Singing in the kitchen

/ Su Leslie
Close up shot of garlic, ginger, coriander, lime ... some of the ingredients in Sarah Tiong's Asian Vinaigrette. Image: Su Leslie, 2017

Garlic, ginger, coriander, lime … some of the ingredients in Sarah Tiong’s Asian Vinaigrette. Image: Su Leslie, 2017

“Cooking is a language that express harmony, creativity, happiness, beauty, poetry, complexity, magic, humor, provocation.” Ferran Adrià  — head chef of the elBulli restaurant

Harmony is all about combination. About striking the right notes to create something pleasing. This is just as true in cooking as music. Flavours, textures, colours, even temperature must be balanced.

As a cook, I definitely fall into the enthusiastic amateur category, but with practice (lots more hours than I ever put into learning guitar), I am beginning to create food that is closer to “well-crafted pop song” than “open-mic night at the local folk club.”

For which my boys are ever so grateful.

pan-fried tarakihi fillet with rosemary lime crumb, roasted butternut squash and watercress. Su Leslie, 2018
The ingredients: prawn and soba noodle salad with avocado, grapefruit mint and yuzu. Image: Su Leslie 2018
Prawn and soba noodle salad with avocado, grapefruit mint and yuzu. Image: Su Leslie 2018
Lunch; grapefruit, rocket, walnuts and feta salad, dressed with an orange mustard vinaigrette. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Good together: aubergine, garlic, ginger, chilli and lime. Image: Su Leslie 2018
Rosemary and feta scones. Image: Su Leslie, 2017

Lens Artists Photo Challenge | harmony

 

35 thoughts on “Singing in the kitchen”

  2. I honestly am hungry now and I have just finished my ‘after breakfast’ espresso!
    You also cook with plenty of stuff I have no idea about (and sadly, I’m totally allergic to fresh coriander, which is quite off-putting in so many ways).

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    • I’m sorry to hear about the coriander allergy. That would make eating a lot of Asian food difficult.
      We get lots of Asian ingredients here, and I like the lightness of a lot of Thai and Vietnamese dishes.

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  8. If your cooking is half as good as your photography, I will happily sit down to dine with you any time you like. Of note, I recently found what happened to the missing eggplant (American for aubergine) in the back of the fridge. I highly recommend you avoid the ‘mold it black and squishy’ method of aging vegetables outside the crisper drawer. It was a gruesome end to an undeserving vegetable.

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    • Pull up a chair. I don’t guarantee “restaurant quality” but it’s food made with love.
      I haven’t aged an eggplant that way, but have experience with zucchini and melons. In fact “melon” used to be a euphemism in our house for food that had reached the point of gross inedibility.

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    • Very true. I learned to cook in a biggish family, honed the art in huge student flats and haven’t really adjusted the quantities for the new “me n’ him” arrangement. That and the fact I really, really just love to cook. 😂😂

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  18. I bet they are!! 😄 And I honestly have to confess that your cooking is one of the reasons why I can’t wait to visit you! 😉 😍
    Hehe! Yes, I also spend more hours cooking and baking than I ever spent with practicing the guitar! 😁

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