old dog, new tricks

I love food. Not just eating it. Not just cooking it. Not just buying it.

I spend a lot of time thinking about food. Too much time. But before you sign me up for the next season of "Biggest Loser" I don't necessarily spend this time devoted to the thought of eating.

I find it amazing that the planet hosts such an array of edible items, animal vegetable & mineral all uniquely evolved to the ecosystems and microcosms they reside in. And then, and this is the interesting bit for me, the "humanoids" have adapted culture and cuisine around these evolved edibles.

Food of just about any ethnicity is fascinating to me (even if I'm not prepared to try everything) and love seeing what people bring to work/school for lunch - especially in a multicultural work place.

The other thing I catch myself wondering is, "whoda thought?" What brave person put his hand in the mangroves to pull out the first crab ever eaten? Who thought to whip oil and eggs together? Were they surprised when they ended up with mayonnaise?

I am not a technical chef. I am a cook. Possibly a little more intuitive than most, but an untrained home cook. I have done one cooking class (ever) and I spent some time hanging around the kitchen when working at a (then) trendy pub. And my parents were all about fresh food and good quality.

When I cook, more often than not, it's ad lib - based on recipes books and magazines I've inhaled, things people have told me, dining out, what I see and smell, and what's in the fridge. The great thing is that from time to time I surprise myself.

It was with great pleasure then, that wanting some won ton soup for lunch and knowing I had no stock nor chicken bones in the house, that I recalled some "black beans" in my fridge. So I boiled them up for 10 minutes and ended up with a flavoursome soy based stock, worthy of my (frozen) won tons. Delicious.