Culinary Daydreams and Realities
There are two types of chefs in my opinion: those who treat the craft as a 9-5 job, packing neatly freshly made-and-frozen scones, whipped cream, and overly sweet strawberry jam from the bucket into cardboard boxes to be delivered to corporate clients with all sorts of dietary requirements, and others who have this romantic dream of being a chef/butcher/baker/farmer/gardener kind of bundle. There’s nothing wrong with either one. I’ve been both. I equally loved and hated both. I’ve been equally bad and good at both.
When I was going through my “back to our roots” chef era, I did it all: learning the art of salami and buying a kit at the end of the class, which, by the way, was left unused for months to follow; jams and marmalades; bread making (may all the starters I had rest in peace). I went as far as buying a small wine fridge where I would age all the beautiful cheeses I envisioned creating in my apartment, living the dream of “slowing down right in the heart of the city.” The fridge sat there for a couple of months, empty of my cheese dreams, until I came to terms with the fact that my urban cheesery would never happen.
I must say, though, I do admire the chefs—and non-chefs, for that matter—who find the time to make their own sourdough and fill their pantry with freshly squeezed passata like their Italian nonna used to do.
As for me? On my list of “things to do,” there’s always a random recipe for something homemade, whether it’s pasta or some sort of random flatbread from a place a few hundred miles away from Melbourne that I will “definitely” try. The truth is, some days it’s a rush to even cook a basic chicken-and-rice lunch, so I’ll settle with the idea that imagining making a handmade cheese from scratch is actually not that bad.
Until next time,
Alex
More cheese is coming next week, good friends. If you’d like to try it or stock up your fridge, pre-order here. If you are further than 15km from Richmond, shoot me an email at curdsy@outlook.com and we can sort something out!