| 19 August 2010
The Before You Die books make me nervous. There are a number of them in the series, such as 1001 Movies To See Before You Die, 1001 Places To Go Before You Die and so forth. The whole notion makes me jittery because there’s the erroneous implication that I am, indeed, going to die. Moi? Die? Surely you jest! Furthermore, I feel a certain fluttering anxiety whenever I have a list of things to do. What if I don’t see all 1001 movies? What if I’m just about to rent the 1001st movie and I discover it’s been deleted from the catalogue? What if I’m about to see the 999th amazing place and it’s closed for the season?
I would rather create a ‘to-do’ list that’s short and sweet, with no reference to my imminent death. Therefore, I’ve designed a list of five great things to see before, during or after you dine. These are just a few of my all-time favourite films and TV shows, the ones I go back to again and again and the recipes that sort of go with them.| 17 August 2010
For a long time I thought Mexican restaurants didn’t rinse their dishes properly. There seemed to be an odd soapy flavour to the food. When I started cooking Mexican food in my own kitchen, I realized the Palmolive aftertaste was cilantro. There is some evidence that hypersensitivity to cilantro’s soapy essence is genetic. In short, some people taste it, others don’t. After eating many cilantro-flavoured Mexican dishes, I’ve grown to love cilantro’s Irish Spring zestiness. And it’s a good thing. With Cinco de Mayo approaching, it’s time to haul out my favourite Mexican recipes.
But first, a word about Cinco de Mayo, which translates in English to “5th of May.” Surprisingly, in Mexico the holiday is a simple regional celebration recognized only in the state of Puebla. However in North America, Cinco de Mayo has grown into a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. Now, I’m usually the first in line to celebrate holidays that aren’t remotely related to my heritage. Chinese New Year, Oktoberfest, Bank Holiday … you name it. If there’s a celebration to be celebrated, I’m putting on my party hat and getting into the conga line. And so it is with Cinco de Mayo. C’mon, everybody, let’s party! ¡Vámonos!| 14 April 2010
I am not fond of surprises. One of my least favourite surprises occurred while in Los Angeles. The date was January 17, 1994 and I lay snuggled in my bed. Not a person in LA will argue the moment the Northridge earthquake rattled through the city like a runaway locomotive. In nearly every home, clocks fell off the wall and broke at precisely the same moment, leaving us with a lasting souvenir of one of the worst moments in LA’s checkered history. It was exactly 4:31 in the morning.
And what, you may ask, was the first thing we Angelenos did after the world stopped heaving and bucking? We ran to the store where we stocked up on bottled water and Twinkies. We filled our carts with cookies, cakes, pies and potato chips. We bought cheese curls, corn chips, chocolate; you name it. We grabbed any carbohydrate-rich, calorie-dense snackage we could find.
Mind you, LA is a city where residents are cast into frantic self-loathing at the very hint of an extra ounce on the hip. And yet, in the weeks following the quake, while the number of aftershocks climbed, shaking our inner ears like a tot shakes a snow globe, we ate. And we ate. And then we ate some more. We dragged melting food from our electricity-deprived freezers and threw it on the barbie. We invited neighbours to sup with us at large makeshift picnics — some we had never even acknowledged prior to our shared fright night.
| 23 February 2010
Celebrations don’t always have to be grandiose affairs. One of the nicest holiday dinners I ever had consisted of a simple beef stew with salad and a loaf of homemade bread. The food was delicious, but what made the evening special was the great conversation and laughter shared among good friends.
To me “simple” means either a long, slow and savoury braise or a fast and furious sauté. With the former, dinner goes into the oven and you settle back with a glass of wine. With the latter, your guests come right into the kitchen to help with the preparation. Either way, the focus is on fun and good food, not cooking and cleanup.