“You need an entire life just to know about tomatoes.” – Ferran Adrià
First, some background.
Growing up a child of the 1970’s and ‘80’s, I spent many of my weekends with my grandparents. I could always be found helping my grandmother in the kitchen when it came time to start Saturday’s dinner. Some of my favorites were her chicken and homemade noodles (such thick, chewy goodness I could never replicate) and spanakopita, the spinach and feta pie I keep meaning to veganize now that Violife offers vegan feta. I also have a vague memory of adding random spices to a pot of water in that 1960’s style kitchen as though I was cooking a real dish (spoiler alert, I wasn’t).
Sometime in my twenties and long before I became vegan, I briefly toyed with the idea of going to culinary school. It didn’t make it past the idea phase. There are moments when I regret not giving it a go.
Fast-forward to today.
I’ve had the same after work routine for ages – a glass of red wine and a snack (usually Treeline Cheese and crackers) while watching cooking shows. It can range from Food Network to various competition shows on other networks. Looking at you, Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen. Obviously none of the shows are vegan, although it can be hilarious watching some chefs try to figure out how to use tofu. Yes, sometimes seeing meat can get to be too much for me, particularly if butchering is involved. Mostly though, I challenge myself to think of vegan alternatives for all of those non-vegan ingredients as I watch. It inspires me to get in the kitchen and cook my own vegan dishes. It inspires me to experiment more.
It’s also taught me a lot about food and the culinary world in general, such as cooking techniques and flavor combinations. There’s always something new to learn even when there are areas of disagreement. We’ve become so polarized and stuck in our own little boxes, it’s easy to lose sight of that no matter the topic.
As a lifelong fan of all things culinary, I’ll keep on sipping my red wine while watching those non-vegan cooking shows. Just until it’s time to take my wine into the kitchen and start cooking!
“I enjoy cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food…” – Julia Child
