Before We Begin, We Must Start.
Have you been inspired to cook, bake, or even create of late? Maybe you made a pledge to a loved one during lockdown or the huge cost of living crisis is having a dramatic effect on your bank balance? Have you noticed the cost of takeaways as you read your bank statements are becoming prohibitive? Maybe you just want to eat healthier, but where do you start, or rather, where do you begin?
That does sound like an odd statement, or at best a cliché, but it is quite simply the cornerstone to your culinary future. I started #ParlezPantry a few years ago and never really got too involved as it always seemed too much like hard work, to devise a recipe, write it down, create the quantities, revise it, write the blog post, share it with those that were interested and on it goes. Then one day I began thinking, how did I get here, and what is stopping anyone else from making the same journey? The answer, it turns out, is nothing is stopping you aside from a little knowledge and experience, but that’s where the fun is to be had.
To that ends, I have decided to slightly fork the site off, part of which contains the recipes, complete with downloadable .pdfs and a part that contains a series of articles such as this, to hold your hand, on your journey. We’re going to begin the series in the next article with a look at what spices are, how best to use them, what kind to purchase, and what are the staple ones you should always have to hand.
What to Expect?
Ultimately we are going to cover many topics and the recipe side shall cover ideas and creations from all 7 continents to tempt you. I’ll wager that you do not have a large kitchen, nor a fancy oven, but you do have the desire to learn which is why you are here. We’re going to learn about how to create flavours by pairing other ingredients, I don’t mean in a snobby wine selection kind of way, but in a way that makes you think about what you taste, what you would change, add, or remove from a dish in front of you.
I have the ability to be served something, almost anything, and deconstruct the finished dish so that I know what, and more importantly, roughly what level and amount of each ingredient went into the making of the wonderful item in front of me that just cost me £2, £10, £50 or more. The point is, money does not provide good food on its own, you can substitute money for love, desire and enthusiasm.
There has never been so much exposure to cooking programmes or advice, hundreds of new books are published on the subject each week yet most of them are inaccessible, too pricey, and quite often too convoluted, I have no ulterior motive, I am selling nothing, yet, by virtue of you reading as we take this journey together, I gain everything, including pride, pride in you, the cook that you are now, and the cook that you strive to be. Put your mind to it, commit, and you shall achieve.
If you have read this far, and before you even knew it, you have made a start to your beginning.