Food philosophy

"Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history..." – Anthony Bourdain. 

Would it be wrong to say that the majority of people have completely lost connection with the food they eat? There is no understanding of the true nature of things, how they grow, how to use them. The sterile delicacies from hell some people call food that you would find in the frozen aisle of a grocery store have separated us from reality. That being said how can one expect the same people to create real, slow food without a little bit of guidance? which is also not in abundance…

Too much misinformation or over complication for the sake of being unique. While some preparations are inherently elaborate in their nature, most cooking is pretty straight forward. It is also completely normal that food and cooking takes time and investment. You will make mistakes, things will burn, ratios miscalculated, sauces split, like any other skill or part of life, accept that. Once you’ve gotten over all of that, remind yourself that you’re just a tiny human making something to eat. It doesn’t have to be painful, it could even be beautiful.

Small changes in how you purchase produce, the tools you use and how you execute preparations can drastically transform your food reality. Fancy equipment or the latest tech is not what I’m talking about here, an understanding of what is good and what is shit regardless of age or price. Any stainless steel pot or pan will serve you way longer than that fancy non-stick chemical leeching blasphemy they promise will revolutionize the way you fry an egg.

Knowing how to identify quality ingredients and how to use them makes a world of difference, price is not always your best guide. Salting your pasta water with expensive finishing salt isn’t luxurious it’s just plain stupid. On the other hand, an excellent olive oil can take a simple tomato sauce to the next level. This may seem obvious to some of you but for the sake of this being informative, we shall assume that the reader has a very basic understanding of food and culinary practices.

Let us take a bit from the chefs, how they operate and structure their kitchen and a bit from the old timers, operating with little means and making the most of it when it was all they had. Applying those two philosophies facilitates making exceptional food affordably and efficiently. Following recipes is limiting, the ability to interpret how a preparation comes together and navigate around obstacles like missing ingredients or an unfavourable cooking situation is the foundation of a great cook.

Please do not expect an antiquated interpretation of “how things should be”. Tradition exists as a guideline, it is recognizant of ingredients available in said regions at the time. To shy away from the influence modern times and the rest of the world can have on this food culture seems foolish to me. Food evolves, we should as well.