Layers

In my semester of crazy last year I found myself, somehow, teaching 4 classes which managed to span 5 disciplines.  I was social sciences, sociology, politics, anthropology, and archaeology.  The most tricky of these was archaeology, since I have never, ever done an archaeology subject in my life.  I wanted to, when I was in year 4, but I don't think my vague desire as a 10 year old translates in any way to a qualification to teach the subject.  Luckily I was only responsible for leading discussions, and those were based on the readings.  So my questions were more about the human side of things, rather than the technical side, and I managed okay (at least, I think so).

But one thing I do know about archaeology is their interest in layers.  They dig down, little by little, to see what they uncover as they go.  Sometimes they take a bulldozer in to dig a trench, so they can visually see the progression through time.  I still have a vague desire to go on an archaeology dig, but these days my layers are limited to the kitchen.  But they are a lot more delicious, and less dusty, so I'm happy with these for now.

After a pancake breakfast involving fruit sauce, Andy suggested we put the leftover berry sauce to use in some kind of dessert.  I threw around a lot of ideas, but finally settled on these.

From the bottom, which archaeologically represents the earliest era... A layer of coconut tapioca pudding.  This is a combination of seed tapioca (the littlies) and multicoloured tapioca pearls.  A later generation, er, layer, is the berry sauce.  On top of that, some custard, made with Orgran No Egg, sugar and soy milk.  The berry layer appeared again, indicating a cultural resurgence of some kind.  And the most recent layer, on top, was the most unique yet - crumbled up gingernut biscuits.

Like an archaeological dig, I used a combination of excavation methods.  I took each layer on its own.  The custard was yummy, the berry sauce so-so, and the tapioca chewy and delicious (until a few days later, when the bigger pearls were very dry).  I also dug right down in, getting a combination of layers in every bite.  This is where I realised the incongruity of the tapioca layer.  It just didn't fit with the rest of the parfait.  I guess that's why I'm an academic, and not a professional dessert-maker!