In Love with Food
Do you go to bed dreaming of food? Of what you’ll cook tomorrow? Do you finish breakfast and wonder what’s for lunch? Take your last bite of lunch and contemplate dinner? I do. I love cooking. And I love eating. I am in love with food.
It’s a hedonistic affair—sensual, gratifying, and multi-faceted. It’s better when others are involved, when I can share the pursuit, get lost in creating a menu, a run sheet of tastes for the table. Textures. Colours. A story for all, with an ad-lib script. Driven by produce on platters, combinations of flavours, and the modalities of the kitchen.
A Meal Begins with an Idea
A meal can begin with a single ingredient. Ideas spark from it. One thought leads to another, and the courses form. In my mind, I see a plate—white, blank—and from here, I build:
Crunchy, starchy, filling, satisfying, foundational, fresh, green, soft, bitter, pink, sweet, bright, velvety, red, juicy, acidic, yellow, salty, blue, earthy, charred, plump, dry, black, hot, cold, chilled. Combined, these elements are more than sustenance—they’re an experience, and in the company of others, they can be joyous.
The Sensory Magic
An oyster. Fresh from the ocean. Remnants of salt coat the shell. Grip it. Slide the shucker into the groove, twist and push until you hear the click. Lift the lid to reveal soft meat and sparkling brine, tasting the sea—alive, wild, vital. Memories wash over you: ducking under frigid waves, squealing, laughing. The thrill. The constancy. The rhythm of the world envelops you.
A nut. Encased in nature’s packaging, perfectly designed. Crack it open to reveal the chewy, creamy food inside. December in England. A wooden bowl of nuts on the coffee table. Silver crab-claw crackers on top. Flavours and textures to notice, to enjoy. A small ritual, a mark of the season, a portal to wonder.
Herbs. Pick some. Inhale. Fresh air. Growing. Cultivating. Nurturing. Dirt under fingernails. Childhood gatherings. Mint is lamb on Sundays at my grandma’s. Rosemary is potatoes dug by my grandpa. Sage, a giant bush, busy with bees, parading tiny purple flowers under clear blue skies. Coriander is family adventures along the East Coast of Australia—surf wax, sandy toes, beach hair. Uplifting. Exhilarating. Pure abandon.
The Ritual of Cooking
Make pastry. Chill the bowl. Keep ingredients cold. Rub the butter into the flour with fingertips, keeping palms clean. I watched my grandma do this with ease—her mottled hands, decades of life shaping the flakiest apple pies. Using your hands to prepare food is therapeutic. It forms a ritual. From start to finish, tangible and whole, feeding your soul as the dish delights your senses.
Food as Connection
We eat with all our being. Food is intertwined with life, tangled with memories, meshed with stories. Recipes become the people we make them for—a dedication, a love song. Food is a chance to show care, offer condolence, celebrate, mark an occasion, or take an adventure. It’s necessary. It can equal. Every day we have the opportunity to connect around a table, to share in the awe of what food can do. I am in love with food.
In Love with Food
Do you go to bed dreaming of food? Of what you’ll cook tomorrow? Do you finish breakfast and wonder what’s for lunch? Take your last bite of lunch and contemplate dinner? I do. I love cooking. And I love eating. I am in love with food.
It’s a hedonistic affair—sensual, gratifying, and multi-faceted. It’s better when others are involved, when I can share the pursuit, get lost in creating a menu, a run sheet of tastes for the table. Textures. Colours. A story for all, with an ad-lib script. Driven by produce on platters, combinations of flavours, and the modalities of the kitchen.
A Meal Begins with an Idea
A meal can begin with a single ingredient. Ideas spark from it. One thought leads to another, and the courses form. In my mind, I see a plate—white, blank—and from here, I build:
Crunchy, starchy, filling, satisfying, foundational, fresh, green, soft, bitter, pink, sweet, bright, velvety, red, juicy, acidic, yellow, salty, blue, earthy, charred, plump, dry, black, hot, cold, chilled. Combined, these elements are more than sustenance—they’re an experience, and in the company of others, they can be joyous.
The Sensory Magic
An oyster. Fresh from the ocean. Remnants of salt coat the shell. Grip it. Slide the shucker into the groove, twist and push until you hear the click. Lift the lid to reveal soft meat and sparkling brine, tasting the sea—alive, wild, vital. Memories wash over you: ducking under frigid waves, squealing, laughing. The thrill. The constancy. The rhythm of the world envelops you.
A nut. Encased in nature’s packaging, perfectly designed. Crack it open to reveal the chewy, creamy food inside. December in England. A wooden bowl of nuts on the coffee table. Silver crab-claw crackers on top. Flavours and textures to notice, to enjoy. A small ritual, a mark of the season, a portal to wonder.
Herbs. Pick some. Inhale. Fresh air. Growing. Cultivating. Nurturing. Dirt under fingernails. Childhood gatherings. Mint is lamb on Sundays at my grandma’s. Rosemary is potatoes dug by my grandpa. Sage, a giant bush, busy with bees, parading tiny purple flowers under clear blue skies. Coriander is family adventures along the East Coast of Australia—surf wax, sandy toes, beach hair. Uplifting. Exhilarating. Pure abandon.
The Ritual of Cooking
Make pastry. Chill the bowl. Keep ingredients cold. Rub the butter into the flour with fingertips, keeping palms clean. I watched my grandma do this with ease—her mottled hands, decades of life shaping the flakiest apple pies. Using your hands to prepare food is therapeutic. It forms a ritual. From start to finish, tangible and whole, feeding your soul as the dish delights your senses.
Food as Connection
We eat with all our being. Food is intertwined with life, tangled with memories, meshed with stories. Recipes become the people we make them for—a dedication, a love song. Food is a chance to show care, offer condolence, celebrate, mark an occasion, or take an adventure. It’s necessary. It can equal. Every day we have the opportunity to connect around a table, to share in the awe of what food can do.
And herbs and a lemon. My two most favourite ingredients.