Death by chocolate: The final slightly unsavory installment that turned into a life epiphany.
I knew that one of these recipes would be savory. I was playing it safe and thinking of doing a Mexican mole or something like that. Something that is unusual and savory, but usually has chocolate in it anyway, so I would know that I was playing in the realm of safety.
But a couple of things happened that made me change my mind. First, pregnancy cravings. Yes please, carbs! And I’ll give you a couple of seconds to let that sink in…
Divine chocolate - 100% cocoa. Perfect for savory cooking…
Second, I was just being plain old sick of sub-par gluten free options. Someone told me about chickpea pasta, swearing it is as good as the real thing. I had to know…
Thirdly, is that ever since I watched Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat I have been mulling over the idea that fat can be good, adding dimension, texture, flavor and wow to food. It seems obvious, and it is I suppose, but I have always subscribed to the idea that I can make a lighter version of everything taste just as good. Blindly cutting things out of recipes, often at the sacrifice of flavor… After the epiphany of watching Samin Nosrat cook, I felt ashamed of myself. Fomo. Like I have spent too much of life cutting out the things from food that make it taste good! A particularly eye-opening scene was from the “Fat” episode, in which she made ragu. If there ever was something more aptly named “food porn”, then this was it. I was on the edge of my seat, drooling. Watching dark, rich shiny meat sauce, coating thick, fresh noodles in slow motion… Goodness gracious, I’m a fat convert. We’ll just balance it out with a healthy breakfast, shall we?!
My Ragu. Best frikken thing I’ve tasted in a while, not to toot my own horn.. Recipe here
The other epiphany I have had lately is the realization that “God helps those who help themselves” is not actually from the Bible. Don’t let me lose half of you here, I’m not about to get preachy and I don’t think that this makes it wrong necessarily. It is just a bit unsettling to me as this is a mantra I have firmly entrenched in me - I live my life by this concept. Coming from the Bible gave it some validity - like a promise you could be sure of: If I do my part, the rest will fall into place. And like I said, I don’t think the concept is suddenly wrong, but the irrefutability of it is suddenly brought into question. Anyway, I have to put this on the back burner. I can tend to overthink these things!
Back to food! This blog post is an ode to why using good ingredients pays off. Adding 100% cocoa chocolate to a stew, just a few squares, adds depth, dimension and richness I could not have imagined. This was balanced with using just one herb - rosemary - but LOTS of it. The piney freshness of it balanced out any heaviness. Going to the market to buy fresh, wonderful lamb neck from the butcher, instead of stubbornly believing that Giant SHOULD have decent lamb, therefore they MUST (Not true. 4/5 times the lamb has been sour and awful. I give up.) Then balancing that with the acidity of the right tomatoes and a decent bottle of wine. I can’t drink wine right now, so a nice bottle from a dinner party went in. And the right tomatoes, San Marzano (This is a type of tomato, not a brand), all day every day. I could not have imagined that it would make such a difference, but it does.
The Butcher’s counter at Union market, Washington D.C.
Ingredients count, guys! And I think it the same with us as people. Shit in gets shit out; help yourself and you will be worth helping. Train, inform, teach yourself what you need to know, and the opportunities and ideas will open up to you. Try really hard, give a shit, and people will see your tenacity and give you a chance. Pick tomatoes that were ripened under an Italian sun, chocolate sustainably sourced from Ghana, and what could go wrong with your dinner?
How’s that for tying my ramblings into a neat package? Now, to the recipe!
