How Far Have I Come?

I am an amateur cook, dabbling in a massive world I know and understand very little about. I am passionate, keen to learn and always trying my hand at a new technique, recipe or ingredient. I always have been, passionate that is, but until Glen came along my skill set was limited, I have mentioned that before. Now I have nobody telling me we can’t or more to the point I can’t. Instead I have a husband that will eat whatever I put in front of him at least once, including the devils food, that would be sweetcorn, Glen says anything that goes in one end gets chewed, digested, causes some really awfully smelling flatulence and still comes out the other end whole must be produce of the devil. I would agree that this is a rather odd phenomenon but I am of the opinion that the devil isn’t at work, at least not on this occasion, goats? Now that’s a different story.



So anyway every now and again we eat sweetcorn because I love it. I guess I am lucky really because Glen will eat just about anything, which means I am no longer just boiling pasta, microwaving jarred vegetables and launching some kind of pork into the oven or frying pan! I am only constrained by my own limitations, which don’t hold me back for long these days, I own not only recipe books but also a plethora of reference books, several have been given to me by my friend, who every now and again sends me these little gems, I’m certain that he knows exactly what he is doing when he sends them to me and they’re truly invaluable, in a much later blog to come, or probably several blogs because of the size of my collection I am going to list all my books and show how and why they’ve helped me grow, but for now I am going to leave it at that. I am always open to hints and tips from other people, on how I can improve something or even as a cook.

What I can’t abide and what really makes me upset and defensive, are the ones who insist on putting me and my cooking down for no real apparent reason, other than making themselves feel more superior, than me in the kitchen, I don’t understand the need and it is a shame really. It’s not just me that it happens to though, lots of other foodie friends experience a similar sort of hostility, I am open and prepared to listen to anyone that can help me improve a recipe. I once mentioned to a friend that I wanted to make ciabatta bread and she pointed out that the dough would be runny and don’t be tempted to add more flour because it will firm up. That is a useful tip…. Telling me I have it all wrong because, you do it different is not constructive, nor does it mean I have it wrong. The instance that I am thinking of, made me go home and look through most of my recipe books, to find the recipe and then I sat there on the floor surrounded by about 10 all open on the ‘same’ recipe and see if I was in fact wrong. I often change recipes because I’m missing or can’t find an ingredient, I think that was probably what made me doubt myself in the first place. This woman though had done a particularly good job of making me feel small and stupid, made me doubt myself enough to go and search for the recipe. I wasn’t wrong though at all. I have learnt from this experience, to doubt myself less, trust my instincts and above all else remember something I said in an earlier blog, “As long as it is edible, who cares how you got there in the end?”

I sometimes wonder if these ‘critics’ knew how many cookbooks I have, knew that I had read them all cover to cover, knew that I have cooked over 300 recipes, written and posted over 200 blog entries, that I have over 340 pages of notes, done extensive research, using a number of different resources and friends who are WAY better in the kitchen than me! They’d still feel the need to rip my small ability apart? I can’t honestly say I am very good at much, cooking is about my only talent and in the last four years I have come a long way, I am proud of my mistakes as well as my triumphs, I think you learn more from your mistakes. I think they would really because that’s what bullies do. It’s a shame, because if we all respected each other and encouraged each other, the world would be a better place.