It began as all good things begin.  With a ramekin or small Pyrex bowl and in some cases, a once-empty, now re-used can of juice concentrate.  As I walked through the door he held open, my arms full of grocery bags I asked him if they had any.  Without hesitation, Jimmy said,

      “Yes! – of course.  It’s in the fridge.”

     I had to re-arrange and move several things out of my way, but there, in the far back, on the deep right of the top shelf, was the container that is the foundation of all things savory and wonderful . . . Bacon Fat.  Those drippings of lard, a kind of black and white, yin and yang combination of good tasting/cholesterol bad essence.  I could see the once crunchy bits of the Mother from whence it came, embedded on the top and surely throughout.   Jimmy and Nina store theirs just as I do mine.  My grandmother kept hers in a small coffee can, on the stove between the two back burners. 

     We were all gathering for supper club barbecue.  It was just after five o’clock and it was still over one hundred degrees out.  My friend Jimmy and his wife, Nina, went out to bring in the rest of my groceries, while Colin poured me an ice cold glass home-brewed beer.  When Jimmy and Nina re-entered the house they were immediately followed by Diana and her husband, Stanley, carrying a jellyroll pan of firm polenta, cut into individual squares and ready to put on the grill.  Sophie was already out on the back patio, her feet dangling in the pool, as she sipped a tall hurricane glass filled with white sangria. Her fiancée inspected two plump pork roasts turning and glistening on the spit.  One had been prepared with a spicy French-Cajun rub, the other Texas Smoke.  These  delicioso cerdos didn’t need any tending to, but under Kyle’s watchful eye, were sure to be served at near perfect internal temperature. 

    Meanwhile I had cleaned, peeled and sorted all the ingredients for my contribution to this American past-time of gathering with friends and feasting in the great outdoors.  Diana and Stanley made their way amid the fourteen or so kindred spirits serving the finished appetizer of herbed-grilled polenta now topped with grated Asiago and a small mound of arugula.  The smoky tasting polenta mixed with the rich cheese and bitter greens was superb.  So good, it called for “more beer all around” declared Colin and Jonah. 

     “I’ll have another sangria please.”  Called out Sophie. 

     According to the experienced touch of Chef Bryant, the roasting pork were close to being done, so I had better get my dish on the grill.  With a line of three assistants behind me, we marched out balancing trays filled with an assortment of commercially prepared roasted chicken, pulled from the bone, sausage, vegetables and seasonings.  I started first by grilling the chorizo, onions and bell peppers.  When done, I removed them from the grill and set aside while Chef Bryant and his asbestos hands went about slicing and dicing them.   I then placed my shallow, eighteen-inch cooking pan directly on the grill and spooned in generous amounts of our Treasured Bacon Fat.  When the pan was ready, in went the now diced onions, yellow bell peppers and 5 cloves of garlic, minced.  I then poured in about five cups of short grain rice.  Stirring so almost every grain was properly introduced to the sofrito.   When the rice exhibited a golden-brown hue I poured in about 4 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups water and 6 grilled tomatoes now cut into quarters.  I sipped my first glass of sangria and allowed the liquid to be absorbed.  About 20 to 25 minutes later I added the shredded cooked chicken, the chorizo with the casings removed and crumbled, salt, pepper and a few threads of saffron, (the most expensive spice in the world).   A few more sips of sangria and a bit more conversation, then in went the clams, the peeled and deveined shrimp and shelled, shelled and roughly cut lobster.  I threw in a small bag of frozen peas too.  10-12 minutes later it was done!  I tossed in a couple handfuls of chopped fresh parsley, tasted for seasoning ; perfect.  Then arranged four whole lobsters Kyle had grilled on the Weber for me while I tended to my dish.  Bryant’s spicy Mexican potato salad, Jimmy’s roasted pork, Patrice’s grilled Portobello sliders, Colin and Jonah’s grilled halibut topped with a sweet & spicy Caribbean relish and my paella was indeed a feast of food amid friends.   We were very, very happy Americans indulging in a melting pot of cuisines.  For dessert, Maureens’sgrilled fresh juicy peach halves topped with Sophie’s homemade  crème fraiche ice cream!