We all know carrots as those adorable orange roots with the tufted green hairstyle and their promise of superhuman eyesight, but that’s not what they really are. Not what they used to be. In the grand scheme of things, orange carrots are very young. Only a couple of hundred years old. Babies! Still immature and infantile.
I have been wanting to get into food writing for a long time now, but somehow never felt the need; the time and place was never right. This changed this morning when the first article of a new food column for the University newspaper was published. The column is called The Epicurean and will be published once a fortnight. At least that’s the plan for now.
Birthdays have never meant very much to me, but this one is special. One of the most important restaurant in the history of American cooking, Chez Panisse, celebrates its fortieth year. Chez Panisse, the brainchild of Alice Waters, opened its doors in 1971 and was almost single-handedly responsible for the birth, or at least the maturity, of California cuisine. With a focus on good-quality, fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients, California cuisine is not about complexity, but about simplicity. It is all about making the most out of the best ingredients, allowing their flavours to shine and to combine harmoniously.
I’m certain that the news has reached you, no matter where you live, dear reader: Groningen is Hoofdstad van de Smaak for 2011! For those not blessed with the ability to understand Dutch, it means that Groningen is the Capital of Taste for this year. I can tell you’re a bit confused (if not bemused), so let me try to explain.
Hello again dear reader (the singular here is not, I suspect, just a figure of speech). Last time, I posted about a spoon I made out of some wood I salvaged from a chestnut tree that had to be cut down due to old age. I figured that it was only fair to extend its life a little bit longer by making a few useful things out of it. It turns out that spoon making is also extremely fun.