Sometimes it can feel like we live life with the fast-forward button pressed down. We listen to voice notes at 1.5x the speed; we download apps to so we can do more; we opt for quicker modes of transport to walking, barely giving ourselves time to look up. Cooking in a rush never ends well. Sauces are spilled, pans bubble over, things get burnt. This might be unavoidable when your hunger takes over, but in our experience, choosing the slower route when in the kitchen often yields the best results.
While some cooking appliances give us an undeniable advantage in some case (a dough spinner, for example), others can make it worse. Ever tried making a pesto in a smoothie maker? It turns everything to liquid. No beautiful chunks of parmesan and pine nuts colliding with the basil that get nestled into the little nooks and crannies of your pasta. Whizzing up a dukkah in a spice blender? It can turn it to dust, when you want those big powerful hits of coriander and fennel and crunchy hazelnuts to come through.
We don't need to optimise every process. It's worth taking an extra five minutes to grind your spices in a pestle and mortar. To pound roasted almonds and basil and garlic and tomatoes to get the perfect course consistency for a trapaneze pesto. To taste as you go along. To not take the shortcut, but the long and winding road. The view is usually much better.
While some cooking appliances give us an undeniable advantage in some case (a dough spinner, for example), others can make it worse. Ever tried making a pesto in a smoothie maker? It turns everything to liquid. No beautiful chunks of parmesan and pine nuts colliding with the basil that get nestled into the little nooks and crannies of your pasta. Whizzing up a dukkah in a spice blender? It can turn it to dust, when you want those big powerful hits of coriander and fennel and crunchy hazelnuts to come through.
We don't need to optimise every process. It's worth taking an extra five minutes to grind your spices in a pestle and mortar. To pound roasted almonds and basil and garlic and tomatoes to get the perfect course consistency for a trapaneze pesto. To taste as you go along. To not take the shortcut, but the long and winding road. The view is usually much better.
