Confessions of a Foodie #1

Anybody that has ever worked with food professionally will tell you that good food and good times exist on shifting sands. A perfect night, a beautiful dish, or an exquisite flavour is never summoned from the pages of a magazine at a finger's click. You have to try, test, follow your taste buds; work with what (and who) you’ve got. This, Grasshopper, is called Flying By The Seat Of Your Pants and in the world of food it’s a professional requirement.

In any scenario Flying By The Seat Of Your Pants can take one of three trajectories. It can be as simple as a quick fridge forage; “F*****g Norah! 8 friends coming for dinner and nothing in but pasta, cornies, and a packet of Haribo." It can be the inspirational language of the freestyler; “Hmm, yeah man, snails and porridge – lets try it!” Or it can be what translates the wishes of silly hearts and dreamers into everlasting memories; “I fancy doing a silver service dinner on top of Ben Veryhigh… who’s coming?”

Let me make one thing clear though. Flying By The Seat Of Your Pants is not the same as Making It Up As You Go Along. Successful Flying requires elements of native cunning, a grip on the basic elements of the territory you’re entering. It requires a touch of elbow grease and a measure of common sense.

Abandon ideas of formula and precise measurements. Trust your senses. Success occurs when the sum of your ideas and ingredients become greater than their individual parts. When laughter and stories start to bubble around the table. That is what makes cooking an art. But there are also a lot of great stories and laughter in honest error and the enticing possibility of creating something truly magical too. After all, what else are we here for?