There is a saying (I think it's from India)... "Food without company is just medicine".
Lately I have been getting into cooking. I mean really getting into it. Almost every Saturday or Sunday I am searching through recipe books for something funky to cook for dinner. Debbie, Becs Mum, and Robert, Becs brother, gave us one of the Jamie Oliver cook books last Christmukah. Mum got me the most amazing herb book with all you can ever need to know about so many herbs and spices. Nix got me one of those really big chunky granite motar and pestles for Peaster. It is vurtually impossible to get me out of the kitchen nowadays. I even find myself reading new recipe books on the bus on the way to work. Should I seek help?
Last week I made a Pork dish. I really don't like pork. I love bacon, but I just can't deal with pork. I don't know why. Anyway, the reason I cooked the pork last week was because the sauce looked absolutely awesome. Well, the meal wasn't too bad. Everyone seemed to really love it. I didn't. Never mind.
A few weeks ago I made a simple stir fried garlic prawns for the kids. They absolutely inhaled it. I was so happy. I made it again for them tonight, but tonight I thought I might put a little-bit-of-this and a little-lit-of-that in it. Since I was making the "tom yum goong" from the "fish food" book (on page 135), I thought I better make the kids something they can eat too.
Well. If there was any time in my life that could have been the birthplace of a profund statement, then tonight was the night. I set the table for four... and I don't set tables! I lit the candles. I put the chopsticks out. The kids have those funky little pincher chopsticks, they take them to yum cha when we go. Dinner was ready. It probably took me about an hour, maybe 2, could have been 3 - I lose time in the kitchen. It was my first time with turmeric. (no turning back now) The kitchen was starting to smell like Bugis Junction. Arthur was out the back yard. Charli was getting changed into a lovely blue floral ensemble. Nix was watching a fishing show on TV. We all sat down. We had a french bread stick. It was quite a brady-bunch-dinner moment. One of those moments that you can look at things with absolute clarity and tell yourself "here I am", "this is my life". I was really quite enjoying this moment.
Then. It happenned. We all tried our food. What an absolute disaster! Everything I had served, everything I had made went completely to flop. We all burst out into laughter. Telling each other how "mine is worse than yours", "it cant be. you gotta try this", "Dad! this is DISGUSTING".
After some laughing and some trips back to the kitchen to make some Vegemite toast and crumpets, I thought about that saying. "Food without company is just medicine". I think there is much more to that saying than what it suggests. We ended up enjoying a meal together that was actually quite perfect.
Thing to note 1 : Get the Fish Food book. It really is fantastic.
Thing to note 2 : If you do get the Fish Food book, don't go to page 135. It looks good, and smells amazing, but that's where it ends.
Thing to note 3 : Eat with the kids.
Thing to note 4 : Follow the recipe, but not 100%.
Thing to note 5 : It's fine to fuck up every now and then.
Thing to note 6 : The reason American's don't like Vegemite, is because the nature of the American suggests that they must spread Vegemite like it is peanut butter.
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