Sunday 18 April 2010

The blog is........Desert Island Dishes and Dirty Guilty Pleasures


On Food…..

When I started this blog I knew I wanted to start a conversation from the beginning about food. Although I have worked (and played) with food most of my life, (and I guess you’d call me a “Foodie”) like many people I know, I had become overloaded and overwhelmed with information. I must also confess that up until recently I had been lazy in my search for any knowledge, I was turning a blind eye and I needed to start caring more........

Our relationship with food has become warped hasn’t it? The gap between those who can afford good food and those who can’t seems to widen, and cheap, bad food (and clothes etc…) get ridiculously cheaper.

We now live in a world obsessed with body image, which goes hand in hand with an even more warped view of food as we seek to be slim but we are becoming increasingly obese. Diets don’t work, (I can tell you!) but they are a multi million pound industry.

So what can be done now? I don’t know yet. But what I do know is that I don’t want a rant and a moan on here but to start the conversation from scratch again, just to try to get a clearer understanding on what’s going on.

One thing that does seem to be clear to me is that by making people feel guilty about food, in any way doesn’t work to promote a better understanding. Junk food and readymeals will be around for a long time yet and whether we like it or not, they are part of our culture now. Encouragement to improve them, to step away from them once in a while, seems like a good idea.

And ask around about everyone’s guilty food pleasure. You’ll be surprised. (if they are telling the truth!) Also if you're honest, your guilty pleasure will probably be one of your dessert island dishes.

So this blog is..............
.....restarting a conversation, from the beginning about what is good food?
.....about seasonal food and it's pleasures.
.....about reasonable food and it's pleasures.
.....mostly about art and food….
.... about dancing and dressing up.
.....feeling a need to kick some of the snobbishness out of food.
.....to inspire....and encourage....someone away from ready meals.


.....looking for our dessert island dishes.
.....cake.
.....making dinner.
.....writing a book.
.....about doing good things.
.....loving really good food but having really dirty guilty pleasures/dirty dishes.
.....also about drink.
.....thinking about a box scheme....
….thinking about the supermarkets….
.....looking to start to understand what's going on in the world of art and food.
.....making art, music, videos and podcasts.
.....having a very nice time.
.....thinking about hosting and sharing some food.
.....thinking about growing some food.

.....any thoughts? give me a shout.

2 comments:

  1. Hear yea! Here yea!
    I propose an experiment with BATTER. And CHIPS. BATTERED CHIPS. CHIPS IN BATTER. Twotever.
    Now, my favorite elements of the traditional 'Fish and Chip' supper have to be a tasty thick batter, and a soggy, yet crispy edged chip.
    I like to peel off the batter from the fish, put it to one side whilst I scoff the little fishykins down, then carefully portion out said batter between a selected group of handsome looking chipped potatoes. Each chip is wrapped as best as it can be in the batter and gobbled down by ME. Deeeeelicious.
    Unfortunately, this whole process can be tainted. When all you want is a 'carb-hit' on a friday night, cant scrape together enough change lurking around your wallet, nor want such a large amount of food (lets face it, you cant share with someone -stealing all the batter and best chips doesnt really go down well), a whole order of fish'n'chips is too much.
    So I propose a new item on the menu. We've all seen a battered sausage. And burgers come to that. Some say 'up north' there is such a thing as a BAG OF SCRAPS. Surely a cone of battered chips is just the next step?

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  2. Anon (I hope you don't mind me calling you that.)

    First and foremost, I enjoyed the details of your eating habits and wonder, when eating an egg, do you leave a little of the yolk to go with your last bite? (Tricky with boiled I know) I tend to leave the best bit of a meal til last.

    Secondly, not wanting to boast on my own eating skills, but I can usually polish off a whole fish and chips on my own, with bread and butter and a lie down after normally...I don't share.

    Yes, now to your battered chip proposition. Would you like to be involved in this experiment on some level?

    In Somerset we called those bits of batter in chippies, Scrumps. It fits really.

    I really want a cone of battered chips now. With mayo please.

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