Learning to cook
As with most people, when I get busy, blogging suffers. Instead, I’m unwinding by learning to cook. It’s been a long journey, levelling up on the slopes of Mt. Noob and now reaching the stages where I’m at least mildly competent.
Lessons learnt thus far: the sheer ubiquity of onions and garlic. What happens if you don’t watch your fingers when chopping said onions. The numerous types of vinegar (white wine, balsamic, malt, cider - I don’t even like vinegar). Why people spend £100 on a knife. The delights of thyme, parsley, cumin, turmeric, garam masala, bay leaves, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and many others. How to buy meat that isn’t pre-packed. How bloody expensive prawns, grapes, saffron and vanilla are.
As well as, obviously, the eating, I think I’m drawn to the alchemy of cooking. Getting the raw materials and following a recipe, however mechanically (I’m certainly not at the stage to remember them, let alone improve upon them) is a quite fascinating thing - seeing a concoction of unrelated, immiscible fluids emerge two hours later as a rather delicious casserole is remarkable.
My other surprise was just how much planning it takes. Getting all the right ingredients at the right time, particularly the perishable ones, takes dedication and an anticipation of where food will fit in with your week’s routine. It requires an application of Just-In-Time inventory that would rival a small factory. But yet, somehow, this hassle makes the whole process more rewarding.
What this all comes down to, of course, is an admission that I’m pushing 30. Now that’s out of the way, does anyone have any recipes to share?
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Comments
Sweet! Thanks mate, I have pretty much all of those ingredients plus some salmon to wolf down tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes.
How did you get on? Did you slice the bald lemon to use on your salmon? On one hand you feel like a native American Indian, utilising every part of the lemon, on the other hand it just feels wrong on account of its baldness.
Do you like risotto? The recipe on the back of Sainsbury’s risotto packets (lemon and rocket) is amazing.
Hey Cennydd - I learned to cook by writing a cookbook. I was a publisher first, had an idea, so went at it that way. The results are at http://cookingwithbooze.org if you want to try any ;)
P.S. I’m STML on Twitter if you’re wondering how I got here…
@tom - as it turns out I went with smoked haddock, which I don’t think needed any extra lemon. So the bald lemon went to waste, sadly. As for the recipe, top notch, thanks. I think I underestimated the 2tbsps of parmesan, will be a bit more generous next time. But am definitely adding this one to my thin repertoire.
@james - hey, nice one. Sounds like my kind of book, I’ll definitely give it a look.
boil some (6-8?) new potatoes for 30 mins. meanwhile mix together the zest of a lemon, 2 tablespoons of parmesan and enough olive oil to make a paste out of the whole thing. when the potatoes are done, whack them in a roasting tin or whatever and gently crack them with a fork (crack, not SQUASH, as i did the first 500 times, they should still be in one piece, but with an added crevice). Spoon the lemon/cheese mixture over the potatoes, grind plenty of salt and pepper over the top and stick in the oven (200 degrees) for 20 mins. Serves 2 (size zero models). Use to accompany salmon, steak, etc… essentially it’s just a better version of boiled or roasted potatoes.
[nicked from Bill Grainger]