Do you remember the childhood pastime of lying in a wildflower meadow, daisy chain in one hand and masking the eyes from the sun’s glare with the other, whilst finding pictures in the clouds: “Look! It’s a dog!  A castle! I see a wizard….! Look! Look! Do you see the ice-cream cone”?  In those heady days, we only found images depicting the soundtracks of our happy youth not the necessary reality.  The term for this activity, pareidolia, sounds more like an irritating tropical disease rather than an innocent way to spend a summer afternoon with friends, where a case of the giggles was the only thing at risk of catching. 

I was thinking about this the other day, whilst on my daily dog stomp. Walking through the woods and instead of my mind dreamingly drifting over the sea of bluebells, I was drawn to the faces in the trees. Pareidolia – I had it bad! But unlike those days in the never-ending summer holidays, the images were of nightmares not Disney. Adulting seems to have put a more sinister and disturbing flavour to this pastime and the more I tried to shift my eye away from it, the more images to be found. 

I’m guessing that the ancient art of reading tea leaves is a line of pareidolia. I’m guessing too that this exists purely because us humans are desperate to make sense out of everything. And this in turn brings to mind the saying, “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t talking about you!” so too, just because it’s random, doesn’t mean there isn’t a pattern! 

So I’m sitting here nursing a cappuccino, trying a whimsical spot of pareidolia with the froth.  And it turns out that, rather irritatingly, it’s not that easy to just magic it up on demand. However, the froth of the coffee and thought of those childhood skies does make me wistful for simplicity and on to probably one of the most impressively simple favourite recipes in our home:  Ricotta Gnocchi otherwise known here as “White Clouds”. The texture, flavour and visual is exactly what it says on the tin. 

White Clouds (Ricotta Gnocchi):

250g ricotta

2tbs grated parmesan

50g plain flour

Mix together and season with salt and cracked black pepper. 

Roll into a long log about ½ “ thick.

Cut ½” pieces.

Put into salted boiling water.

Remove with slotted spoon as soon as the gnocchi bob to the surface.

Serve with pesto or tomato sauce.