by Chef Ben Kelly | Aug 8, 2018 | Food and Culture
It’s Too Hot To Cook
This summer has been hot. Like, really hot. And there have been way too many nights that have been too hot to cook. Despite the heat, you still want to eat well. Going out to eat or ordering take-out can get very expensive and the food is rarely as good for you as you would like it to be. And unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to barbecue. So then, is the only solution to turn the oven on and spend the rest of the night melting in the unbearable heat? Not necessarily.
I was kind of a weird kid.
I was kind of a weird kid. For breakfast, I always preferred leftovers from the night before. This was especially true if we had eaten chicken for dinner, but anything would do. I would never reheat anything opting to eat the leftovers cold. More often than not they were just as good cold as they were hot. Why am I telling you this? Becuase, you can harness the power of leftovers to eat good food and beat the heat. Say what?
…the heat doesn’t really kick in until 10 or 11 am.
More often than not the heat doesn’t really kick in until 10 or 11 am. What I suggest is that you cook before this. To be even more efficient do a little bit of prep the night before. Let’s say you have a whole chicken that you want to roast. Before you go to bed rub it down with herbs and spices and put it in a roasting dish in your fridge. When you wake up in the morning, turn your oven on, let it preheat and then pop the chicken in. It’s going to take between one hour to one and a half hours depending on the size of the chicken. During that time you could be getting ready for work, getting the kids up and ready, whatever the case may be.
Give yourself enough time in the morning…
Give yourself enough time in the morning so that the chicken can rest at room temperature for at least half an hour after it’s cooked. This will drop the temperature enough that it isn’t going to raise the temperature of your fridge too drastically. Just before you leave for the day put the chicken in the fridge and when you get home all you need to do is make a salad or something like that.
There are loads of things that you can cook in the morning
There are loads of things that you can cook in the morning and eat when you get home. You could boil potatoes and eggs and have them ready in the fridge to make potato salad when you get home. You could cook asparagus and serve it cold with a vinaigrette or a mayonnaise-based dressing. You could cook salmon and eat that cold as is or in a salad. Roasts like beef or pork work well also. You can slice them and eat them with cold sides or make fun sandwiches.
There really is no limit to what you can cook in the morning and then serve cold in the evening. And, this is a great way to eat well, eat home cooked food, and not melt like an ice cream in the hot sun.
by Chef Ben Kelly | Aug 1, 2018 | Food and Culture
I am a personal chef. What that means is that people hire me to come to their house and cook for dinner parties, get-togethers, or to teach them how to cook. Every client is different, and their needs are different. Because of this, I create custom menus for all of my clients. I ask them what they like and what they don’t like. I ask them if there is a theme to the party, what the party is for, and what style of food they are looking for. With all this information I create something special just for them. This is the art of entertaining.
Create the party for your guests.
When planning a dinner party or a get together of any kind you have to first think about your guests. Who are you going to invite? Are there any allergies you need to worry about? What kind of foods do your guests like or dislike? All of these things come into play. You don’t want to throw a party serving chicken parmesan only to realize that half your guests can’t eat gluten and half are vegetarian. This is a painfully obvious example but it works in broader terms. You want your guests to enjoy themselves. Make sure you know what they enjoy.
How many people are you going to invite?
This is a very important question, especially if you are doing all the cooking. Obviously, you want all of your guests to be able to sit, so really you are limited by the number of people you can fit around your table. But beyond that, how many can you comfortably cook for? Also, the number of people you invite will dictate a large part of the menu. You want to be able to enjoy your guests. You don’t want to be cooking the entire time. So you have to balance the food around the number of guests and their likes and dislikes.
No matter how many people you are entertaining, any food item that can be prepared ahead of time is a good idea. This becomes exponentially truer for larger groups. This is why things like casseroles, braises, or roasts are great options for dinner parties. These things can all be prepared ahead of time and then just popped in the oven to finish or reheat. You want to avoid dishes that are labour intensive a la minute. Plan dishes that allow you to do all the heavy labour before your guests arrive.
Family-Style vs. Plated
A family-style meal is when all of the food is put out on the table and the guests serve themselves. This is by far the easier of the two dining styles. A plated dinner is one where each course is plated individually. Generally, avoid plated meals for dinner parties, or any kind of gathering unless you have someone else doing the cooking.
What is the party about?
This another important question. Having a definitive idea about what the party is celebrating is a key to success. For example, if your party is celebrating something simple like summer, you probably don’t want dishes that are more associated with winter. Stew would be a good example of this. You want the food to reflect the feel and the mood of the party. If you are throwing a Japanese themed party, you probably don’t want to serve hamburgers.
The theme or the reason for having a party, doesn’t have to be complicated. It could simply be that you wanted to throw a party to get your friends together. In that case, just make the food match the season as best you can. Just remember that if you are throwing a party focusing on food, like celebrating the bounty of fall or whatever, the food better be on point.
What to cook?
Let’s look at what you shouldn’t cook first. Avoid dishes that you have never made before. I know that it seems like a good idea to make something new to wow and impress your guests. I have personally fallen into this trap a few times and been burnt. There are just too many variables. Also, avoid anything too complicated. Yes, making a perfect souffle is badass, and I’m sure your guests would appreciate it. But do you really want to be thinking about whether or not your souffle is going to fall for the whole party? No. You don’t want that.
Like I said earlier, when entertaining, choose dishes that can be prepared ahead of time. Make dishes that you have made at least once before. And make dishes that are not overly complicated. Honestly, when it comes to entertaining, keep it simple. This is often the most difficult thing to do but your guests want to spend time with you. Don’t let yourself get trapped in the kitchen all night.
Conclusion.
Entertaining is a great way to spend time with friends and enjoy each others company. When done well, a dinner party is relaxed, calm, and joyful. It should be the highlight of the week, not something people are dreading. Keeping things light, and simple is generally the best option. Just remember the night is about your guests, spend time with them.
*As a side note, I am taking the rest of the week off as a bit of a vacation so I won’t be writing a post for Friday. I will be back on Monday, so I will see you then. Enjoy your weekend!
by Chef Ben Kelly | Jul 25, 2018 | Food and Culture
A recent study published in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition has changed the game once again. Milk fat, the kind of fat found in full-fat milk, cheese, butter, etc., is not bad for you as many previously thought. In fact, it is probably good for you. This happened with eggs a few years ago, and potatoes before that. Nuts, avocados, chocolate, coconut oil, coffee, and red meat have also had similar ups and downs. At one time these were all things that you should absolutely avoid or eat as rarely as possible. Now, they are considered good for you. I’m sure the pendulum will swing the other way in the not so distant future.
I have spoken before about not getting caught up in the hype of fad diets and this is all part of the reason why. Part of the problem is with the science of nutrition itself. It is a confusing mess of contradictory ideas and “facts”. There is a great vox article that you can read here about what is wrong with the study of nutrition.
I should say that I am not anti-doctor or anti-science or even anti-diet. What I am is someone who has seen time and time again the “facts” about food and health be done and undone. I have seen bandwagon hoppers get whiplash from hopping from one wagon to another. And I have seen foods that I love, and that humans have been eating and thriving on for thousands of years be vilified because of some perceived negative effects.
So what should you do? What should you eat if you want to stay healthy and live a long life? To quote Michael Pollan “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Eat a varied diet with a lot of leafy greens and vegetables. Eat fats like olive oil, and animal fats but avoid hydrogenated oils. Limit the number of processed foods, or try to avoid them all together. Not that complicated.
By eating in the way I just described you will not only be eating healthier, but you will be avoiding all the headaches that come from paying attention to all the confusion around eating. In all honesty, and this is the big secret no one wants to tell you, your guess about what is good to eat, is just as good if not better than anyone else’s. Unless you are a complete moron you probably have a pretty good idea about what foods are good for you, and what ones aren’t. Eat more of the ones that are good for you, and a lot less of the ones that aren’t.
by Chef Ben Kelly | Jul 20, 2018 | Cooking Tips, Food and Culture
When I was a kid there were two things I hated above everything else. Carrots and Mushrooms. I learned to love carrots pretty quickly. Mushrooms, on the other hand, took me a very long time to learn to like. Everyone has things, be it from their childhood, or recent discoveries, that they don’t like. What I have discovered through my own journey and through the stories of other people is that turning a dislike into a like is more a matter of perspective than anything else.
The below list contains five commonly disliked foods. You may like some of the items on this list, or they may be on the list of things you hate. Every one of the below items has one main thing in common. They were all on my list of dislikes but I now love them. So, if I learned to love them, perhaps you could too.
Before I get into this I should answer one simple question. Why? Why should we try to learn to like foods that we don’t like? The answer is as simple as the question, we don’t know what we’re missing.
Eggplant
Eggplant or aubergine for our British friends is an odd little item. It can sometimes be tough and rubbery, but it can also be mushy and slimy. If you were born into an Italian, Chinese, or Middle Eastern Family you probably grew up eating eggplant. If you didn’t you probably have an aversion to it.
Eggplant is not something I grew up eating. I had never had it until I was about 15 or 16 and to be honest it wasn’t my favourite thing in the world for a while after that. Eggplant on its own can have an odd texture and bitter flavour but if you learn to cook it properly, this all goes away and what you are left with is something truly magical.
The first thing you have to think about with eggplant is the bitterness. There are two main ways to get rid of this unpleasant flavour. The first way is to cook it out. This is generally done when you want a more creamy texture. To do this you either put a whole eggplant on a bbq or over a fire. Or cut it in half, drizzle it with olive oil salt and pepper and roast it, face up in the oven. Cook it until the insides pretty much liquify. If using the bbq method remove the eggplant from the grill after about 45 minutes to an hour, cut in half and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
The second technique is used for a firmer textured eggplant. If you were to make eggplant parm, for example, this is the technique you would use. Slice the eggplant into rounds about 1/4in to 1/2in thick. Take a sheet pan or cookie sheet and put down a layer of paper towel. Place the eggplant on the paper towel and season very generously with salt. Flip the eggplant and salt the other side. Cover with more paper towel and let sit for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour. After the set amount of time, rinse the eggplant under cold water, pat dry, and proceed to cook it however you would like.
This salting draws moisture out of the eggplant and removes a lot of the bitterness. Because so much moisture has been removed, the eggplant doesn’t go to mush when it’s cooked but holds it’s shape and texture.
Preparing eggplant in either of the above ways will yield flavours that you never thought possible from such an odd vegetable. You will find sweetness instead of bitterness. Silkiness instead of mushiness. And who knows, you may even enjoy it.
Mushrooms
For a very long time, I hate mushrooms. I hated them! It was more of a textural thing than flavour. I couldn’t stand to but the slimy, spongy little bastards in my mouth. It really has only been the last four years or so that I have started to enjoy and even love mushrooms. I do sometimes still have textural issues but more often than not I enjoy them.
How did I turn my hate and disdain for mushrooms in love and admiration?
When I was growing up we mostly had button mushrooms. Those little white jerks you see in the grocery store. My mom and I would forage for mushrooms but because I “hated” them I never really tried the ones we picked in the forest. What I realized later in life, was that I didn’t hate mushrooms, there are over 10000 species of mushrooms in North America alone, I couldn’t hate them all. What I hated were those little S.O.B.s from the grocery store. Those white little devils that taste of blandness, mustiness, regret, and horse shit.
I started branching out and trying different mushrooms. What I realized was that I really liked most of them. Some of the mushrooms I tried like lions mane for example was one of the best things I had ever eaten. Sauteed with a little butter, salt and pepper, it tasted just like a steak. Amazing!
For me, the secret to learning to like mushrooms was realizing that a mushroom is not just a mushroom. They all taste different, they all have different textures, and they are all better than those terrible little white things you get at the grocery store that are called mushrooms.
If you don’t like mushrooms, I suggest trying a variety you have never heard of before. Go to your local farmers market or Chinese Grocery Store and see what you’re missing. You will probably find one that you like and that will open the floodgates.
Olives
My experience with olives was similar to my experience with mushrooms. What I learned is that I don’t hate olives, I love olives. I hate shitty olives. Those little fisheye looking black olive rings you see on pizza or get out of a can, those are terrible. They taste bitter, salty, and awful.
I fell in love with olives when I had Bravo Spanish Olives from my local specialty grocery store. I liked them so much I sat down at ate almost the whole container. Remember, prior to this I hated olives. These didn’t taste like the olives I had tried before. These had actual flavour.
You probably can’t get the same kind of olive as I can but if you want to experiment with olives go to your local specialty grocery store and ask for some samples at the deli counter. They will be more than happy to oblige and your world will be blown open.
Once you discover what an olive can taste like, you will never go back to those little black rings again.
Brussels Sprouts
It’s hard to say whether I hated Brussels Sprouts because I actually hated them or because as a child tv and media told me I was supposed to. Whatever the reason I pretty much just refused to try them and on the rare occasion I did try them they had no seasoning, or butter, they were overcooked and pretty gross.
What I discovered as an adult is that when they are properly cooked, either roasted or boiled only to the point that they are tender, not mushy, they can be delicious.
Roasting Brussels Sprouts on high heat caramelizes the outside making them sweet and giving them a bit of crispness. All they need is olive oil, salt and pepper but if you wanted to add bacon and blue cheese to them you wouldn’t regret it.
Boiling them is fine as long as they aren’t overcooked. When boiling Brussels Sprouts there are two main things to remember.
Number 1. Don’t Cover Them.
Just like any green vegetable, covering them will lead to discolouration. When green vegetables are cooking they release a gas that if captured will discolour them. This is easy to prevent by not putting a lid on the pot. This discolouration will occur from overcooking or adding acid to the cooking liquid as well. A little vinegar or lemon juice goes very well with Brussels Sprouts but wait until the very last second to add it.
Number 2. Don’t Over Cook Them.
When cooking Brussels sprouts think of them as little potatoes. You want them to be fork tender, meaning a fork can easily be poked into them, but they should not be mushy or slimy. This is really important if you want to actually enjoy eating them.
If you are boiling them drain them, season them with salt and pepper, and add butter and lemon juice. This will make them even more delicious than the already naturally are.
Fish
Over the years I have nailed down three main reasons why people don’t like fish.
Number 1. It’s often overcooked.
Overcooked fish is disgusting. It has a weird texture, it’s dry, and it tastes terrible.
I live by the ocean. I have lived by the ocean for pretty much my whole life. Most of the people I know have also lived by the ocean for their entire lives. The majority of those people don’t like fish. It’s crazy to say, but a lot of people here hate fish. If you ask them why they will usually say it’s because how their mom used to cook it.
Fish, when cooked properly should be tender and moist. You should be able to break it up with your tongue, you shouldn’t have to chew it.
The thing that leads to overcooked fish is fear. People think that fish needs to be well done or they will get worms. Do you know how many people eat sushi every day and don’t get worms? If the salmon has a bit of translucency in the centre it isn’t going to hurt you. In fact, it is going to be even more delicious. Yes, you don’t want your fish to be raw most of the time, but overcooking will not make it any better.
Most fish cooks really quickly. A salmon fillet in a 400°f oven will take between 12-15 minutes depending on size. It will be even quicker if you sear it first. A pan-fried haddock fillet will only take 3-4 minutes per side.
Be much more afraid of overcooking your fish than undercooking it and you will be amazed at the difference in taste and texture.
Numer 2. It has a “fishy taste”
Most fish should never taste “fishy” If your fish smells fishy or tastes fishy it is old. It doesn’t mean it’s going to kill you, it’s just not as fresh as it could be. To avoid this I generally try not to buy fish from the grocery store. Whenever I do buy it there it is almost always old and smelly. I generally try to get it from small suppliers or from places I trust. Nothing will make you hate fish more than getting food poisoning from it.
By fish from fish stores. It will be fresh and they can always recommend delicious ways to prepare it.
Number 3. It has ‘bones”
Yup. It does. So does chicken, beef, pork, lamb, turkey, or any other animal. If you buy your fish at a fish store they will generally be happy to remove any bones.
I hope that this list inspires you to try at least one thing you don’t like. Because you rellly don’t know what you could be missing.
by Chef Ben Kelly | Jun 27, 2018 | Food and Culture
Everyone eats out sometimes, myself included. Going to a restaurant can be fun and an enjoyable experience. In all honesty, if people didn’t eat in restaurants I probably wouldn’t be here writing this today. So, I am all for people eating out sometimes. Obviously, I think it’s important to cook and eat at home more than you eat out, but that’s not what this is about. This is a guide to eating out. How to choose a restaurant. What restaurants to avoid, and what menu items should you steer clear of.
A guide to eating out.
Choosing the right restaurant can be a challenge especially for groups of people. Because of this people often fall into the trap of going to a big box restaurant knowing full well that the meal won’t be great but there will be something for everyone. The problem with those restaurants is that almost everything is coming from a box packaged in some far off land. The food is all loaded with fat, salt, and sugar to try and hide the blandness and low quality. There is, of course, something to be said for consistency, even if it is just consistently shitty.
I have often heard people compare the price of big box restaurants to smaller independent places. It is believed by many that you get more for your money at the bigger chain places. This true in some regards. You get more fat, more salt, more sugar, more heart attacks, more high blood pressure, and more diabetes. Oh, and yes, the portions are often bigger but that is because the food is low quality and they buy in massive volume that the smaller places can’t compete with.
So, with all that in mind, I highly recommend choosing a smaller independent restaurant when eating out. Not only are you likely going to get better food, but you’re supporting your community and a small business. And more than likely the prices are going to be about the same.
You might be thinking “But, how will I know it’s any good? What if I don’t like it?” Well, you have the internet, right? I’m mean you’re reading this. Google it. Do three minutes of research and you find out about other people’s experiences and what the restaurants best dishes are, even price point. And yes, it is possible that you won’t like it. But choose based on merit and you will likely be pleasantly surprised.
Too many fish in the sea.
No matter what type of restaurant you choose there are somethings that you should wary of. For example, if you walk into a restaurant at lunchtime and it’s empty turn around and walk out. There is a reason no one is there. If you decide to take a chance, you will be eating food that has been sitting around for a few days. This is also true of restaurants that have very large menus. Often the two will go hand in hand. A busy restaurant will not have 60 things on their menu. That is a classic sign of trying to please everyone because no one is happy.
If for whatever reason you do find yourself in an empty restaurant at lunch time or dinner time, or in place with a giant menu, avoid the seafood at all costs. Seafood is highly perishable. In the best circumstances, it won’t last more than a few days. In fact, try to only eat seafood in really busy places. It’s not really worth the risk.
Finally, if you walk into a restaurant and its dark, dirty, and dingy, get out of there. The same care that you see in the esthetics will be shown in the preparation of the food. Quality starts before you even walk in the place. If it looks like no one cares, more than likely no one does.
Choosing the right dish for you.
Let’s imagine that you made to small independent place, it’s busy, great atmosphere, your set. How do you choose what to eat?
First and foremost, look around. What are other people eating? What do you see that looks good? It’s okay to ask someone what they’re eating or to ask a server what someone is eating. Speaking of serves, ask your server for a recommendation. If you don’t like an ingredient tell them and they will avoid suggesting a dish that contains it.
Something a lot of people don’t really think about when it comes to their server is that they want you to tip them. For them to get the best tip they can out of you they need to give you good recommendations and good service. If they recommend something to you and it’s shit, your probably not going to tip them well. It is in their best interest for you to like your food. So ask them what they like and what they would suggest.
The final kind of thought here is don’t be afraid to try something new. If you don’t like it, it’s not the end of the world. At least you tried something new, you had an experience. That is what life is about.
by Chef Ben Kelly | Apr 23, 2018 | Cooking Tips
I remember learning to read in elementary school. The teacher would assign us a paragraph and when it came around we would read it out loud. If there was a word we didn’t know, or couldn’t pronounce, we would be told simply to skip it. This is a terrible habit. In fact, I only recently realized that I still do it. I find I subconsciously skip over words I don’t immediately recognize. Having now recognized this in myself I have been able to work on it and improve on it.
I find that there are items in the grocery store people buy every day that are the culinary equivalent of skipping words. Meaning, these items could easily and quickly be made at home for a fraction of the cost. The reason we don’t make them is that we have been convinced that it’s better to just skip over them. To let someone else make them for us. But why?
Why is better to buy something at a massive markup than to make it yourself? Why is it better to buy something that is loaded with salt and preservatives than it is to make it yourself? I don’t think it is. I think that we have been tricked into believing that these items are inconvenient to prepare. I believe that once we understand how simple it is to do these things and how much better they are we will no longer skip over them.
I have compiled a short five-item list of things you can easily make at home instead of buying. These things are not difficult, even for the most inexperienced cook. Whatsmore is that the items all cost significantly less to make yourself than to buy pre-prepared.
Here are five things that I believe we should be making at home rather than buying in the grocery store.
Number 1. Hummus
Hummus is an incredibly popular dip. It originates in the middle east and made it’s way to North America in the 70’s and 80’s. It is composed of chickpeas, garlic, tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice, olive oil, a bit of cumin, and a touch of salt. This is all pureed together. If you have a food processor it literally takes two minutes to make. Making it at home means we get to control the flavour and salt content as well.
Number 2. Spinach Artichoke Dip
Spinach and artichoke dip is one of those classic items served at parties. It is delicious. It also happens to be really easy to make. Essentially, you are mixing cooked spinach with artichokes, a bit of cream cheese, sour cream, parmesan, garlic, and maybe a bit of lemon. You could also add a touch of chili flakes if you wanted. This item, again with a food processor may take about five minutes which includes cooking the spinach. It would take ten minutes if you’re mixing it all by hand.
Number 3. Precut vegetables
The vegetables that get used in producing precut vegetables are usually the ones that are going bad on the shelf. They are not the freshest, so they are not the most nutritious. They also are generally stored in nitrogen. Also, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but often when food gets recalled because of contamination it is frequently items that have been prepared, not whole foods.
Number 4. Salad Dressing
If you know how to use a whisk you can make your own salad dressing. When done properly, the oil slowly whisked into the vinegar a little bit at a time, a vinaigrette will last for weeks. Use a tsp of mustard to stabilize it to extend the shelf life. If you want to know more about why you should not salad dressing in the grocery store read the label on any salad dressing bottle. A homemade version only needs to be composed of oil, vinegar, honey, and mustard.
Number 5. Guacamole
Avocados mashed with a bit of tomato, cilantro, lime juice, chili, and red onion. You can make this with a potato masher if you want. Homemade guacamole tastes way different than the store-bought stuff. Just like everything else on this list it takes under ten minutes to make.
In closing, I want to talk about one other thing I learned in school. Perceived cost, versus true cost. The perceived cost of something is the actual price. The true cost is the price with all of the after effects worked in. So, you may be buying a 175g tub of guacamole for $4. You think your buying convenience. But the actual cost is the health effect form the preservative, the loss of the skill to make the guacamole yourself, the loss of the sense satisfaction from making it yourself.
In reality, do what you want. I just hope that you understand how easily these things that we unnecessarily spend money on every day are to make. And maybe think twice before buying them next time.
by Chef Ben Kelly | Apr 6, 2018 | Food and Culture
I am a year older than I was two days ago. Sitting here, thinking of the passing of another year in my life has led me to ponder the future. Specifically, the future of food. There are some interesting things happening in our food system. Over the next two to five years we are going to start to see things that were only possible in science fiction a few years ago. Things like lab-grown meat will be starting to appear on grocery store shelves. And even more interestingly, we are going to start eating things, that we never thought we would eat.
I want to talk about cricket protein/cricket flour. Well, insects in general actually. Like it or not, they are going to be a huge part of the human diet in the future. They are sustainable. Easy to produce. Loaded with protein. And cheap. Insects are the key to feeding the world once our population swells to 10 billion in about 2050.
Now, you may think I’m crazy. However, you can already buy cricket protein at the grocery store. It has been quietly sitting on grocery store shelves, seeping into your subconscious for the last few months. In the next year or two, our diet will not consist of a large portion of insects. But, people heavily involved in fitness will be drinking cricket shakes every day by this time in 2020. It won’t take long for the rest of us to catch up.
Keep in mind that there are cultures all over the world that eat different insects today. It’s just going to be much more widespread. Really, it all just comes down to marketing. We just need to stop thinking of insects as creepy crawlies and start thinking of them as food. It won’t take that long.
I know that you are probably thinking that you will never eat insects, well you will. Unless you are older than 50 or 60, you definitely are going to be eating insects. Insects are a perfectly healthy, and safe food source. They also need very little water to grow which is going to be very important with the already beginning water crisis.
I’m not here to talk about doom and gloom, but the reality is the reality. We need to feed a pile of people. Think about how hard it is to feed 8 or 10 people on the holidays. Now, multiply that by a billion. We are not currently producing or properly distributing enough food to feed the world. We are running out of the clean water as you can currently see in South Africa, India, and California. And insects are a practical solution to a lot of these issues.
The next time you see a centipede cross your path, try and think of it a little differently. Because it won’t be long until that little guy is staring up at you from your dinner plate.
by Chef Ben Kelly | Mar 26, 2018 | Food and Culture
We have all seen it. Well lit pictures, of food that looks too good to be true. Oozing egg yolks, and slowly cascading parmesan cheese. Pushing the boundaries between art and indecency; food porn has become a serious problem in our society. It has taken over the Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest feeds of people everywhere. But what can be done? What, if anything should be done? How can something so beautiful be so bad? And who should we turn to for guidance?
Food porn unto itself is not evil.
Food porn unto itself is not evil. The problems arise because we cannot separate fact from fiction. Those egg yolks aren’t real. No real person would ever be able to decorate a cake like that. Slow motion doesn’t happen in real life. Food porn causes people to try to live up to the images they see in their social media feeds. They set impossible standards for themselves and then end up never actually cooking at all.
…it’s an addiction.
I’m sure we all know someone who spends hours on Pinterest looking at food porn, saving recipes that they will never make. Why? Because it’s an addiction. It is much easier to imagine yourself as a great cook than it is to actually become one. That time could be spent cooking. Building skills. Creating something beautiful and real in your own kitchen. But no! The allure of the undulating images imprinted on our imaginations is fearfully forceful. It feeds on the insecurities that brew below the surface. It builds a false self image and allows us to live a food fantasy.
…wrapping anything in bacon makes it better.
We have looked outside our own kitchens for too long. We have looked for answers and comfort in other people’s abilities. And we have completely forgotten to develop our own. Our relationships with food have become unhealthy and unnatural. We believe that wrapping anything in bacon makes it better. A brief google search will return images of monstrosities made out of food, but not quite food themselves. Burgers stacked a foot high with every imaginable topping. Pizzas layered with tacos, layered with fried chicken, layered with ice cream. Not food. A mutated and grotesque facsimile of food, but again, not food.
We have to improve our relationships with food.
Where does it all lead? Nowhere good. The more disconnected we get from our kitchens, and the more we think that the food we see on tv and the internet is real, the worse off we are. We have to improve our relationships with food. We have to develop a respect for the food we eat, the animals it comes from, and for ourselves. It’s time to stop imagining ourselves as great cooks based on the recipes we have pinned, and actually work towards becoming a great cook.
Where can we turn?
There is real information out there. There are recipes that you could easily cook and that would live up to your expectations. You just have to find them. You have to put in a bit work, but it will pay off. Cooking your own food, rather than imagining it, will leave you feeling fulfilled. It will help you develop actual skills, and it will improve your relationship with food.
Food porn unto itself is not a bad thing. It is the fact that it is used as an escape. Problems arise when people mistake the images they see for reality. It changes the way we view and interact with food, and it changes the way we eat.
If I can leave you with one thought it would be to just go and cook. There is clearly a desire to do it. If there wasn’t, the food network, all the food shows, and food on the internet would not be as popular as they are. You have an inherent need to cook, whether you know it or not. Try it and see for yourself.
by Chef Ben Kelly | Mar 23, 2018 | Food and Culture
It is Friday morning as I sit here and write this post. Which means that there is a good chance a lot of you will be going out to get food either tonight or tomorrow. Going out to dinner can be a lot of fun. Maybe your going with friends, or having a romantic dinner with your partner. Either way, enjoy it! It’s important to go out and blow off some steam sometimes.
While your out this weekend I have some homework for you. Don’t worry it’s easy. Honestly, it’s simple and it will dramatically improve the quality of your food at home. In fact, I don’t think there is another skill that is more important for a home cook than the one you will develop by doing this. The best part, it is so simple, no one will even know you’re doing it, and your doing it already anyway.
Experience your FOod
This weekend as you sit in the dining room of your favourite restaurant, listening to the buzz of the crowd, I want you to experience your food. “Wait…what?” Yeah, don’t just eat it, experience it! Experience every bite. How does it look? Not just nice, but look at the components. Look how it’s plated. Once you taste it do your best to pick out individual flavours. See if you can discern the secret ingredient that makes the dish so good. Taste the balance of the dish. The play on spicy, salty, sweet, whatever it is. Focus on the experience of eating.
Focus not only on taste and sight but texture as well. There will more than likely be a combination of textures in every bite. How to they affect how you experience the food? What is added? What is taken away? Is there a textural balance as well as a flavorful one?
Tasting and experiencing your food as I describe above will change how you eat. But more importantly, it will change how you cook. The more often you do this the more skilled you will become at it. This will build your palette and allow you to pull from that to add to your own cooking.
Eating should be an experience. I know how pretentious that sounds, I do. But think about it. We learn through experience right? We always have, and always will. So, by experiencing your food, as opposed to just shoving it in your face, you will actually learn about flavour. You will learn texture. You will learn about plating. You enjoy the meal more because you gain an entirely new appreciation for it.
All I ask is that you try this just once. That’s it. Do this once and I guarantee that it will change how eat and cook forever. If you think I’m crazy and full of shit, there’s only one way to prove me wrong. Try it, I dare you.
by Chef Ben Kelly | Mar 12, 2018 | Food and Culture
How can a system designed to not lose children help you to find joy in cooking, and become a better cook?
The Buddy System
Anyone who has read even one or two of my blog posts will know that I am really driven by the idea of getting people to cook. That is my goal with the blog, the podcast, my facebook page, my twitter, even my instagram page. The only thing I am focused on is getting more people to cook more often. To this end, I have been doing my best to show that cooking doesn’t have to be difficult. It doesn’t have to take hours and hours and hours, and you don’t need fancy equipment. What you do need is a desire to do it. I don’t care what the reason behind your desire is, as long as you want to cook.
Unfortunately, desire is often not a great motivator on its own. We generally need a push to do anything but the easy thing. It is often true that people are more easily motivated by other people, and hold themselves more accountable when they are accountable to another individual. It is with all of this in mind that I propose the buddy system. Remember when you were a kid and would go on field trips or even just walk as a group down a hallway. You would be assigned a buddy. You would each be responsible for the other. This will work for cooking.
I think that you should find a buddy. It could be a friend, a family member, or a stranger on the internet. The idea being that you share recipes, you share ideas, you share experiences, and you motivate each other by holding each other accountable. You talk about food, about cooking, about successes and failures in the kitchen. You plan meals together, and talk about them afterwards. You talk about great new recipes you found, or a new way to use a favourite ingredient. This will absolutely work if you do it.
Having someone to talk to about your cooking experiences, someone who is going through a similar experience will create a bond between the two of you, but also a bond with cooking. Your positive memories of your friendship will be intertwined with your memories of cooking and your positive memories of cooking will be intertwined with your memories of friendship. The two will grow and feed off each other. It will be fun to cook because with it will come a sense of friendship, community, and connection and in all honesty, that’s what cooking has alway been about! Even if you are a self motivated person, I suggest using the buddy system to build that sense of community and friendship around your cooking.
For those of you out there that need a buddy, I have created a facebook page called “How To Not Burn Shit” There you will find like minded people, and if you can’t find one there I will help you find your buddy. I sincerely hope that you do this. I know that it will help to make cooking enjoyable for those that don’t find it very enjoyable, and it will make it more enjoyable for those that do. It is so unbelievably important for so many reason that we all cook more and eat better. Let this be your motivation.
