I know that recipe, Jos; in Germany, where I cooked it, it’s called Hasenpfeffer. The blood is used to thicken the sauce, like the egg in an old-fashioned fricassée, and it’s handled just like raw egg — tempered first with a bit of the hot liquid.

Himself came home from market with a large packet of mysterious sausages, half a dozen ears of corn, too many tomatoes again, enough peaches even for me, and a report on the imminent availability of chutney ingredients, specifically Italian blue plums.