Have you seen Chef, the movie? I did, and it blew me away. OK, it's not the greatest film it the world. It hasn't won all the big awards, and it's pretty hokey. That aside, the film is off the foodie charts. Not a surprising thing when the film is called Chef.
The cooking scenes have been so lovingly framed and filmed that it makes you salivate, and then cook, and then stuff your face.
I was taken aback at just how beautifully Director, and star, Jon Favreau, captured every element of cooking. Watching the scenes of him in the professional kitchen made me think back to Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, and his description of professional kitchens working almost as if in a choreographed dance.
What do you think of when summer comes around? Is it pies? It probably not pies.
OK so maybe it's not pies, but you might be thinking of shortcrust pastry. Who isn't?
I've recently been getting into making my own shortcrust and applying that to my cooking.
The biggest push towards making pies was simply that I wanted to eat a pie. This was back around Easter. I had some friends over for lunch, and I thought, well why not bake a couple of mini-pies.
It went down like a peach. Is that a saying? Why not. Let's make it a saying.
I've come a long way since my first market late last summer.
The first market was something I did on a whim. The opportunity came up and I thought I'd give it a shot.
After that each market has been a constant refinement of what I'm offering, and how I'm presenting myself.
Every market has seen me bring something different to the market. It could be a different bake, it could be presentation, but at each market I want to be better.
It's been a while, right? Where have I been?
Forgive me for my absence. I've been working on a lot of different things, and unfortunately I let the blog slide.
On the bright side I have been baking/cooking, and I have been trying a few new things.
Over the last couple of months I've had friends over for lunch, and it's been a lot of fun. On each occasion I thought it'd be a great idea to make almost everything from scratch.
I don't know why I'm such a glutton for punishment, because each time I do this I run myself ragged. Personally, I feel you need to make as much yourself. Why invite someone to your home if you're only going to serve them something bought from the supermarket?
Things are rolling with the market thing and I have a few more under my belt. It's a lot of fun and while I have some solid produce, I need to add something different to my offering.
The last couple of weekends have been used for development. I've been trying out some new flavours and some bakes I've not done before. Some have worked out well and I'm happy to produce them for my next market. Some were a bit of a car crash. In fact one looked like the aftermath of one.
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Earlier I admitted to not having much of a sweet tooth. That's still true, but the other week I was obsessed with making cheesecake. It wasn't just any cheesecake. I wanted to make a particularly light, chocolaty, gooey cheesecake.
At work, at home, on the bus, on my bike, I wanted to make a chocolate and caramel cheesecake. I couldn't remember how long it had been since I had made a cheesecake. I hate having to buy a cheesecake. They are always so dense and devoid of anything other than sugar. The base is terrible and mealy. Why commit such crimes against cheesecake? Who would do that?
I'm not usually one for desserts. I'll happily have a starter or a side and forsake pudding. It's not that I don't like desserts, it just that usually, it's pretty hard to find a worthwhile dish.
Eating out regularly means I get to taste more than my share of desserts, and well, I'm usually left with a sour taste in my mouth. No. It's not because I ordered the lemon tart. It's that so few restaurants can nail the finale to a meal.
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