Really look
- May 28
- 5 min read
"The silent chat between the cook and the cooked." Thom Eagle
This quote from Rachel Roddy was my starting point today:
“I have been reminded of the second-most important advice in cooking (and life): just look, really look.”
I chose this painting, because this lady is not really looking is she? Now I'm sure she knows what she is doing and the flames are completely under control - indeed required - but nevertheless it highlights the dangers of not looking at what you are doing.
Not that I think potential danger was what Rachel Roddy was thinking about here. In her chatty almost winsome way I think she was actually pointing to the importance of actually seeing, rather than just looking. You can look but don't see can't you?
When I walk I mostly look at the ground, because I am a cautious person who doesn't want to trip over something, or fall in a hole. I have always done this - my French professor once asked me why I always looked at the ground as I walked. I confess I thought that everybody did unless they were talking to someone as they walked.
However, there are other advantages to looking at the ground. There are often amazing, interesting, beautiful or simply weird things on the ground in front of you - particularly at this time of the year when there are fallen leaves, and spectacular fungi such as this one spotted recently. An iPhone camera I have to say is a wonderful thing - mostly - as it shows every little grain and drop of rain, every vein in the grass ... I could have just walked by, and, yes, noticed its strange beauty but the photograph shows so much more. A lazy way I guess of looking closely, but at least it is now preserved for me to admire again - and perhaps notice something new every time.
I do look around me as well however - here are a few more from times gone by - things you didn't notice at the time like reflections in the glass, or things that are just strange and/or give you a glimpse into other people's worlds - there are stories to be found everywhere: why is that kettle by the side of the road; what is the girl thinking - she has a single rose in her hand?; a snail teetering on the edge of the kerb; what is the painting in the room behind the grill?; who is that in the window and why is the doll's hand pierced with - is it an arrow?
I used to be guided by my family and friends suggesting subjects to photograph which was a really, really good way to make yourself look at the world in a completely different way - even in the supermarket - where a subject such as 'balls' would provide all manner of subjects.
More seriously though, we should look more carefully at the world around us and the people who inhabit it. We should notice extra signs of care or worry in our loved ones, notice signs of neglect in our surroundings or be uplifted by the small miracles and beauties that are there for us to see on even the most dismal day. Look up at that blue patch of sky, the puffy clouds, or the distant but shining silver dot of a plane heading for somewhere far away.
But back to Rachel Roddy and really looking as one cooks. The thought that led to that notion of a conversation between the cook and the cooked. She gives as an example the advice she was given by a friend:
"to examine my batter: to watch it roll off the spoon while imagining a place between single and double cream – what the food writer Thom Eagle describes as the silent chat between the cook and the cooked."
A concept that another author - Michael Ruhlman on the Medium website tells us is 'imagined sight': "What you expect to see should be a part of the cooking process." Even a novice who has never made batter before, is probably following a recipe, or taking instruction from somebody in person and so there is indeed an idea in your head about what should be happening and what that will look like.
So tonight I am going to make a kind of coq au vin because we have leftover white wine. Although - the footnote to Rachel Roddy's words about really looking at what you are cooking so that it ends up how you expect it to look - well in my case how you hope it will look - was a recipe for Pollo Toscana - another wine based braised chicken dish - this time with porcini mushrooms - and I do actually have some in my 'reserve drawer'. I'm not sure David would like it as much as the Coq au vin kind of thing, however, and I do have some tarragon to use up. So perhaps another time for this one.
Then I have to decide whether to use Nigel's recipe for Coq au riesling (Simply Delicious) - well a braised version of Coq au vin - the real thing is more of a stew and uses red wine anyway. Or I could wing it using his recipe as a base and I think this is what I shall do, because I have that tarragon that needs to be used - he uses parsley - I only have 2 mushrooms - not 250g - and I probably haven't got enough wine either. Also - of course - my chicken will be thigh fillets with neither bone nor skin - not his chicken pieces on the bone. I'm sure Nigel would approve of my fiddling however, because, as I said the other day, he fiddles himself, probably according to what he has to hand.
And I have a photograph to tell me what it's supposed to look like. Perhaps a potato gratin and some French petits pois to accompany. Which makes me imagine a glass of wine to go with it, but alas it's not the weekend and I shall remain firm.
Really look at the process? Well I have to admit I'm not a star at this, and very occasionally something gets burnt - I wait until my sense of smell kicks in and I can smell the burning - which is too late. Yes indeed you have to watch.
And yes you should look around you all the time, for those tiny little bits of magic that lift the spirit and make living worthwhile.
"So all of our six senses ultimately combine to form perhaps our most valuable attribute: awareness. Awareness may be the most important quality of being alive, and it is very much suited to cooking. Pay attention. Enjoy your senses." Michael Ruhlman/ Medium
And in case you too are wondering, I do not know what Rachel Roddy's first most important bit of cooking advice is.
YEARS GONE BY
May 28
2024 - An empty week
2021 - Missing
2020 - Missing
2018 - Nothing
2017 - Nothing
I love all the photos of bits and pieces and wondering what the story is behind them, an airport is a great place to sit and watch and wonder about where or why peole are travelling
Ahhh tricky whats is RR's first bit of advice and how would this be applied into tonights Coq au Vin with a Riesling wine from Aldi. How about "Taste it as You go" 😜🥰