STUDIOKITCHEN

Fall

Fall is solidly here, the weather has turned as have our palettes. It's time to start nesting all over again. Comfort foods, lots of sunday television, sunday is always my day to do nothing or do nothing with someone. No agendas delicious food, linger slowly over a bottle of wine, the cassoulet that's been 3 days in the making or the paella that was assembled today. Deliciousness, reflection, comfort and peace. Join me sometime.

Shrinkage

We will take a break from our food discussions to talk about processing thoughts and actions for a minute. It's been a particularly fantastic week for me, I had 4 distinct deadlines to meet and a particular dinner to cook of which mediocrity was not an option.....like it ever is. I typically obsess about details, who, where, when, checklists, preplists, double checking, highlighters. This week I started on monday with my shrink, yes I have a shrink and in fact the people you should be worried about are those without shrinks. Trust me it's money well spent. I took a different approach this week learning from the two books above (yes she gives me homework) to sometimes just slow down, pause and just stop and think before I get obsessive about what I am doing. In many cases, seemingly daunting tasks were breezed through simply by a change in mental outlook. We can't control everything and everyone to some extent but if we slow down and do the best we can, we  do better in most cases. The two books above are fantastic and full of excellent anecdotes and examples of how to slow down and think, obsession, anger, angst and tunnel vision are set aside and the path to the other side is clearer and quicker.....did I mention less painful or mentally traumatic. Ideas flow, energy is high and there is contagious enthusiasm. A couple of margaritas ain't so bad either.

Reflections

For about the last 2 years, 2 things have been missing from my life, adequate sleep and a soothing cup of tea in the morning. I feel so much better since I  dispensed with my coffee obsession. Today, Jasmine-Oolong the old ways and in the old vessels.

Rituals

Rituals are missing from food in American life, rituals remind us of our connection to our food, touching it, smelling it and controlling it instead of opening a bag. I watched an episode of "Top Chef" this past weekend and was confounded by the task. Why would you ask contestants to make fresh food frozen so that it can be cooked from a frozen state and have good taste and texture afterwards ? Convenience of course but why would you do it deliberately as a basis of awarding someone a prize, it does nothing to improve or advance gastronomy.
Rituals maintain the integrity of gastronomy, whether it is making your own garam masala, penang curry paste or simply a cup of loose bergamot tea.
Rituals improve our lives and are far more nourishing than convenience.

Repetition

Tedious repetition is a great time to listen to keith Jarrett's "Koln Concert", one of the greatest exercises in improvisation known to man.

The Koln Concert.

On the road

On a 6 hr drive the mind wanders, with one eye on the radar/laser detector, thinking about the details and logistics of your job at the end point juxtaposed with passing a phalanx of fast food garbage every 30 miles. Fields of corn in New York State, lots of farms and nary a salad to be seen.