[Sca-cooks] FWD: Reflections on cooking for the last few months

[iasmin at comcast.net]

I sent this to the Middle Kingdom Cook's list this morning and now forward it at the suggestion of a friend, typos corrected. Enjoy. -- Iasmin


Since stepping down as a territorial baroness, I've found that, in the last month or so, my available free time has increased enough that I now am able to goof around in the kitchen. I've been able to spend time at the butcher talking to the wizened little man behind the counter about veal cuts and lamb cuts and how they've changed over the years. I've been able to try some cheeses at the specialty cheese counter. I can go to the Farmer's Market at 7am on Saturday. All this rather than the 50 yard dash through the store to get cat litter, beer, and fresh milk as I rush through my day. It's been liberating. And it's allowed me to play a bit with my food. That's what we're in this for, no?

My husband has been more than tolerant in our 16 years of marriage. He's purchased Al-Clad pans for me without my prompting, for which I've given him very high marks. He's never touched the cast iron with anything that's familiar with soap. And he sharpens my knives for me on a regular basis. He also tolerates my book habit (which I've kept under admirable control and restraint), my kitchen tool collection, and my pottery habit (I hesitate to call it a true addiction).

One of my guilty little pleasures since the Dec 2004 Cook's Symposium has been wooden spoons and things. Slotted spoons. Spatulas. Deep-bowl spoons for scooping out thick, hearty stew. So many shades of brown in a square inch that you can't count them all. These are all lovely little creations, with each one possessing a character of its own. They now have their own home on my kitchen counter in a small, ceramic pickle crock that's been in my husband's family for generations. With few exceptions, I've been using these new tools in my kitchen almost exclusively during my new found free time and I've found it an interesting experience. A spoon should be a spoon should be a spoon, no?

Apparently not. I've been using these wooden tools now for a few months and I've felt oddly more connected with the food. I've found myself reaching for these tools even when the perfectly serviceable metal items are closer. Why is that? I'm not sure myself. Each tool has a beauty that is plain to the eye. The burls, the curves, the smoothness of the hand. I think the thing that really gets me each time I pick one up is the warmth of it in my hand as I reach for it to use. They make me want to experiment with the Italian cooking pot that Helewyse made for me. They make me want to try that recipe that my sister Hauviette mentioned. They make me want to dig out her number and call Rachaol from hundreds of miles away and tell her "My god you just have to try this." 

They make me want to cook. 

Here's to finding the joy in the simple beauty of carved wood, the freshness of the air on a Saturday morning as you look at fresh vegetables at the market, and the joy in an old man's face when you ask him what he knows about the history of meats and their cuts. It's good to be a cook in these modern Middle Ages.

Peace, 

Iasmin