Keeping It Simple

When I was first learning how to cook and experiment in the kitchen, I spent a lot of time watching Food Network shows.  (These days, I realize that my favorites on the Network are Ina Garten and Giada De Laurentiis - I’ll explain why shortly.)  One of my favorite shows to watch was the Iron Chef America competition.  For some reason, I was fascinated with just how many crazy concepts the chefs could come up with, how many ingredients they used, and how many flavors and textures appeared in each dish.

These days, I’m a lot less impressed by what appear almost like culinary theatrics.  I’d rather taste the honesty of the ingredients.  I want each to taste as it’s supposed to - and not like a thousand other things that tend to mask the true characteristics of the essential ingredients of a traditional dish.

Caprese towers - very simple

I think it’s that desire and quest for culinary purity for inspired me to begin learning more about the basics, and less about making a splash in the kitchen, so to speak.  But I just want my meats and vegetables and fruits to taste as they were intended, and not like something completely unrelated.

Ina Garten tells her readers and viewers that a dish needn’t have so many ingredients - only a few good quality ingredients are necessary.  And her “Back to Basics” approach in more recent years speaks to me in that entertaining and even every-night cooking become far less stressful (and I’m guessing healthier as well).  Giada De Laurentiis has a relatively basic approach to Italian cooking - for me, that’s perfect, in that I generally use Italian ingredients at home.  (Ina Garten tends more toward French technique, and when applying it to basics and traditional dishes, I find it to be spot on.)

People lead some pretty busy lives these days.  And I realize that it’s not always easy to cook every night for a spouse, children, or even for yourself.  But if you keep it fairly simple most times, it won’t take too long, it won’t cost as much, and if you cook at home rather than buying pre-made meals, you’ll be in charge of your own ingredients, so it’ll probably be healthier.

For purposes of practicality, it’s safe to say that there’s no sense in trying to run before you know how to walk.  The same applies for mastering the basics before trying to make it too complicated.  (This is why I prefer most fruits and vegetables raw, and most meats cooked just to make them safe for consumption - I want to know the pure flavors of the ingredients as they were intended.)  This isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate a very artsy dish - sometimes I create them and they’re fun to order in restaurants, but sometimes that idea wears itself out.  (I mean seriously, how many gold leaf-saffron-caviar-shaved truffle appetizers can you enjoy before wondering how necessary all of those ingredients really are?  And you’d shy away from eating dinner out if it’s always going to cost the equivalent of a mortgage.)  Let’s keep it simple and just enjoy the dish for what it is.