The Condiment Queen

Adaptability...in cooking as in life, is a beautiful thing

 

I am drawn to a new adaptability in my kitchen - a new creativity. Even though I am a lazy blogger, who no one reads, I do cook a lot and my experience of cooking has grown up since starting this blog in a way that is quite satisfying. Rather than blindly using all the ingredients a recipe calls for (and cluttering my cupboard up with yet more jars) I'll substitute what i have for what is called for. Yes, sometimes the character of the dish changes, and maybe what was supposed to be used was better, but it usually works out really well, and then its unique and mindful. Mindful in that adaptability is also about wasting less - only having one vinegar instead of four open at any one time and also because an imposed limitation forces ingenuity. I imagine a particularly helpful mindset for when you have dietary restrictions like gluten intolerance or when you're (properly) vegan.

As we strive to become consumers who waste less you find that by using what you have rather than rushing out to buy something new or adding something that might be going off soon so as not to throw it out you're quietly living more ethically. Dogmatically following a recipe is boring at best and at worst stressful - so what if I don't have arrowroot, find a substitute, the internet is a big place.

Some of this is obvious - I mean, if you don't have a shallot, use any onion, but others (like arrowroot) are more subtle. With time and a little research you find your vocabulary of invention expands, at the same time your confidence improves and you can rely more on your instincts. The ability to 'whip something up' from whatever is to hand is becoming a specialty of which I'm really proud.

Admittedly in baking you need to know what you're doing a bit more, but even there, inspired by the ever inventive Clotide of Chocolate & Zucchini I am giving experimentation a go.

As recipes become shorthand they return almost to the original recipes which would only give a handful of ingredients and a direction. Last months Observer Food Monthly, the hundredth edition, gives 100 easy recipes, a few sentences in a tiny paragraph long (a similar concept Australian Gourmet Traveller has been using for awhile though!). It reminds me of my first cookbook - Jill Dupliex's New Food - which had 'pairings' (basil/tomato etc.). Knowing (or working out) what goes together is a good starting place.

Examples of substitutions Ive made in the last few weeks - feel free to suggest your own.

• lime or lemon
• molasses or honey or agave
• arrowroot or cornflour or flour
• onions or shallots or leeks or spring onions or chives
• peaches or tomatoes (in salad - together is also good!)
• Chinese black vinegar or Red Wine vinegar
• Fujian Rice Wine or Fino Sherry

On being a flexitarian

Oh my. I think I have finally found a word for what I am. I am a flexitarian. A person, who about 95% of the time is vegetarian (or in my case pescatarian) but to avoid putting unnecessary burden on other people, whilst retaining  moral and ethical values, we do occasionally eat meat – particularly when it is local, organic, free range or in any way traceable (e.g. happy animals).

I think this is how people used to eat back in the day when meat was a luxury. My personal journey of ethical living is ongoing but I like the idea of not having a label, or having one that isn’t too dogmatic and a little bit flexible…

So next time I put down vegetarian on a wedding invitation and the bride says 'i didnt know you were a vegetarian' knowing that i had lamb chops at her house recently we don't cue an awkward conversation about what i do and dont eat that makes me feel a bit like the worlds fussiest person, when all that i am is someone who doesnt eat meat....very often.

The week of raw eating

Well, I have to say its been a good week so far - an expensive week, but a good week. Before I sit down to write my reviews of Saf & Nobu Berkeley I should touch on how deliciously light I feel - how gorgeously unheavy and virtuous i am (apart from economically, where i feel a bit like the devil child gone crazy).
I've derided friends who choose to eat 'not 100% only 70%' for health and weight reasons. Not to their faces mind you, more behind there backs in an 'aren't they faddish' way. Do you have to be a vegan to be a raw foodist? Is aspiring to eat naturally a crime - Ive never thought so but somehow Ive always sniggered at those proclaiming to be raw.
But after a week of eating quite a lot of raw food (and not just my staples of sushi & salad) maybe I can see their point. Im finding that like the finest french or fusion cuisine raw food done well is infinitely intricate and inventive and not just an excuse for undereating. Fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cold pressed oils, light pickled marinades, dairy free nut cheeses (heavenly, honestly), dried pulses & grains - there is a whole new world of raw to explore.
It is quite boho california - but I think thats pretty much fine as long as it tastes and smells good.
I dont know if Ill be even 50% raw, but I can definitely feel the value in eating things as closely as possible to their natural state. In a week where the biggest issue in the news seems to be the worldwide food crisis, sustainability of even vegetarian food sources is a under threat and the cost to the worlds poorest people continuing to rise that I want not to be faddish but to eat responsibly - and maybe raw (which requires local, fresh produce) is another way to do this.
If only I could stick to my principles and not eat fish (so endangered, so morally suspect, so perfectly divine) then it would be perfect.

Degustation...or how to give birth to a food baby

I'm about to give birth to a food baby - his name is 'le grosse canard'. How well we looked forward to this meal at the fat duck. It was all exceptional - from the first sleight of hand with orange & beetroot jelly through the 'has to be done to be believed' incredulity of Sound of the Sea, to the eagerly anticipated snail porridge or the endless cleverness with egg & bacon icecream.
Just too much. No matter how small you make 18 courses it just always winds up too much.
Kind of like Friday night dinner at my grandmother's house - only without the knowledge that if I cant quite manage dessert, mum will bring some home for me for breakfast.
So, to degust or not to degust, thats my big question. Im too greedy to resist something put in front of me and if I am going to go somewhere exceptional for the first time I probably will hell, heartburn is worth it.... But then again if its not a 3 michelin star or a proper kaiseki then it just isnt worth the pain.

Isarn

I’m in a state of mourning at the moment, my favourite restaurant in Islington, Isarn, has closed down due to what appears to be defaulting on the rent. They served gorgeously flavoured, modern Thai food in a gorgeous white walled room, with dark wood pannelling, friendly knowledgable staff and a good wine lise.

It’s a sad, but all to common occurrence in our city. Hundreds, if not thousands, of rubbish restaurants seem to flourish and grow more popular every year but innovative, establishments serving quality food such as Isarn seem to struggle. Now every time I went in there were people, it had buzz but not too much hype and a degree of popularity among a certain type of diner – so why does this happen? Is the weight of high rents and operating costs too much in London? Is it impossible to maintain quality and survive in what is a competitive high street against the chain's and cheapies? Or is it simply that the owners get sick of trying. Whatever the case its pretty sad.

Goodbye soft shell crab salad, goodbye baby chicken with tamarind, goodbye monkfish green curry – you will be sorely missed.

(NB Isarn was co-owned by Alan Yau's sister, Tina Juengsoongneum)
Independent Review
Urban Path
London-Eating

NOTE PLEASE THAT ISARN HAS REOPENED RECENTLY (THANKFULLY)

Link to Isarn2