by Lisa Kerrigan
Hello and welcome to the getting of culinary wisdom.
A dear friend of mine said to me the other day, and I quote: ”some people eat to live and others live to eat” (thank-you Denis!). Well I hope that, after our literary foray into the fascinating, exciting and simply wonderful world of food available to us today, all you readers and aspiring foodies out there, will be of the latter persuasion.
We all enjoy food – after all taste and smell are primary senses, imperative to the fulfillment of our existence – so let us find out more about it. Let us let our palates soar with the simple scents of a nutty cold pressed olive oil; a splash of syrupy balsamic vinegar over a crisp leaf of cos; a dusting of vanilla scented sugar; a creamy mash infused with subtlest of truffle oil; a fresh curl of tagliatelle bathed in cultured butter and shavings of parmigiana reggiano; the sweet tang of pear paste and blue cheese; a vine-ripened tomato sprinkled with sea salt and a crush of basil; a silky white slice of buffalo mozzarella…
Jill Dupleix said: ”Good food is simple. Simple food is good”. Jamie Oliver’s philosophy is the same, as is Rick Stein’s, as is Nigella’s. We don’t need to get complicated or highbrow to produce food that satisfies the soul, and remember that less is always more when your produce is the purest, the freshest, the best.
So let’s begin our journey sourcing the products that will elevate your pedestrian plate into something sublime. Let’s learn how to look for stunning contrast – figs with prosciutto; chocolate with pepper; tangy cheddar with candied clementine. Let’s intensify flavour by oven-roasting and reducing and simmering. Let’s eat slow and savour the texture, the colour, the form. Let’s investigate the mysterious and exotic world of spices; the scented world of herbs; the worlds of meats and fish; of vegetables; of legumes.
It is fun and heady and intoxicating and it is at our fingertips.