It's only Thursday and already it's been a long week. After yesterday's shift with its ups and downs (I feared for my hands on 3 occasions), I feel the need for a creative feed, so in and amongst today's busyness I have planned a baking session. I love cooking and baking and when I lived in France, I really got into it, and loved the idea of cooking as nurturing not to mention the creative expressive side of it. My landlady was a fantastic home cook with a strong cookery heritage (her parents owned and ran a charcuterie/traiteur in Lyon) and I had never tasted such deliciousness before I savoured her cooking. She generously shared her recipes and knowledge with me, except for a few closely guarded family secrets, and weekends were very much based around lengthy family gatherings over food. I discovered flavours I never knew and most of all the feeling of a loving comforting hug from food that I'd never had before. Needless to say, I put on 3 stone when I lived in Lyon, finding any excuse (homesickness was a good one) to dig into that pot of Nutella and sampling the delights of the local patisserie! I always tried to recreate those flavours which took me to another dimension and I think I'm a good cook, but of course I haven't managed to relive that experience.
I've just read through the recipe for the cake I'm going to bake and I'm already excited about the process! I don't know why I feel guilty about making time in my day to do this (I SHOULD be working) and so to appease the guilt I'm going to take half the cake to my mechanic tomorrow, and maybe some to the factory if I'm working. I've wanted to do this for a long time but never dared to - what if they don't like it, what if they think I'm trying to get out of paying my bill etc etc!! It's a pistachio and orange cake but I'm going to try it with lemon as I prefer that combination. I like putting my own spin on things.
This week I've watched a couple of new episodes of Chef's Table on Netflix. I LOVE this series, it's so beautifully filmed and it captures the essence of what food (and music) is about with an evocative nostalgia. I don't know why I was reluctant about watching the episode featuring Christina Tosi but it was amazing - crack pie for goodness sake!! I often get a tear in my eye watching Chef's Table, that tangible passion they have about what they do and the effect their creation has on people. I feel inspired - time to get my apron on.
My cake will NOT look like this, and that's ok!
