Momentarily Distracted

As you may have noticed, I have a tendency to get sidetracked.  So many times I've promised myself to write more regularly, and every time something else has come up.  Or maybe I naturally eschew anything that involves the slightest bit of routine and discipline.   

I'm pretty excited with many things going on in my life at the moment.  One day after coming back from California last November, I started a new job in Mississauga, just west of Toronto. While it's not food-related, my job involves marketing, which I also find fascinating because it deals with shaping customer experiences and perceptions.  So far it's been going well, and I'm enjoying it very much.

I'm also looking forward to moving away from downtown Toronto in a few weeks. I'll only be moving 10 minutes west of my current abode, but after living in Toronto's theatre district for the past four years, I'm more than ready to trade the neighbourhood's crowds and glitz for the tranquility and scenic views of the city's waterfront.  Of course, I'm also excited that I'll have a nicer kitchen and more room for (food) storage.

With everything that's been going on, I haven't managed to cook as much as I would have liked.  For the most part, I've been surviving by cooking one dish on the weekend, and eating it every night for dinner.  This isn't really all that bad, especially when the dish is tasty.  With my one-dish strategy in mind, I've been making a lot of braises.  From David Chang's Braised Short Ribs to Daniel Boulud's Asian-Style Duck à l'Orange... dishes like these can easily keep for an entire week and actually taste better as their flavours develop in the fridge.

So while I haven't been doing a lot of cooking, I've still been thinking about food a lot.  Over the past year, I've been trying to learn more about what makes food taste great.  I've been trying to improve my sense of taste by tasting and learning how to describe wines and chocolates. And for the sole purpose of educating my palate (so that I know what good food tastes like) I took the arduous task of dining at some wonderful restaurants whenever I travelled.  From New York's Jean-Georges and Momofuku to Vancouver's West, and Vij's, I've learned a great deal about how wonderful food can be.  And at some point in the future, I'd love to be able to cook food that's just as delicious.

The area I'm most interested in at the moment is... flavour.  I guess that seems pretty obvious, but I think it's often overlooked in favour of texture. Tender, juicy ribs; rich and creamy ice cream; melt-in-your-mouth chocolates.  While texture is certainly integral to the deliciousness of any dish, for me at least, flavour is more important.  And by flavour, I don't mean the flavour of the sauce or topping, but the actual flavour of the main ingredient (the meat, bread, vegetables etc.).

There are, as I'm sure you're aware, many ways to coax flavour out of ingredients.  Whether it's adding salt, lemon juice, or using techniques like sous vide to prevent flavour from escaping, I'm interested in anything I can do to make ingredients shine.  Starting with the best ingredients I can find and afford, I'd like to be able to cook the shrimpiest tasting shrimp, and make an orange sorbet that has a flavour of a thousand ripe oranges bursting in my mouth.

Comments

[Ivonne]

Clement,

Your ears must be burning! I finally met Rob and Rachel of Hungry in Hogtown on Friday and your name came up followed by the general consensus that you do not blog often enough!

However, I completely understand how busy life can be. Congratulations on your new home. I hope the better kitchen and food storage situation will mean more frequent posts.

All the best!

[Chicken Fried Gourmet]

I check your site pretty regularly and I am glad to see you back. look forward to what you have to cook in your new kitchen :)

[Carol]

Clement!I'm so glad you're back.I started looking at food blogs around Sept. last year and was especially impressed by yours, so much so I decided to start my own. I've got lots to learn, so, I'm looking forward to your new creations!Congratulations on your new home!

[Deborah Dowd]

A new job and a new house definitely cuts into blogging time, but it is great that so many wonderful things are happening for you! I'll keep checking back (since I know that food blogging is habit forming!)

[Pritya]

Dear Clement,
Nice to hear that you would be moving to a place of your choice with a great view and a bigger kitchen. Great insight indeed - that flavour can be coaxed from the meat and the bread etc. by just the addition of salt, lime. All the best with all your experiments so full of passion.

[sara]

wow, i just got to your page through a distributor of sodium alginate, and its oddly coincidental that you just moved to mississauga, cause most people havent heard of it, and i just moved here too. we dont have in the way of culinary treasures, but you should eat at the resaturant i work at, the elliott house. i think you'd be into it, we're trying to get more into the molecular whatnot.

[Canadian in Hong Kong]

I came across your site and after 10 minutes I ran to the kitchen, uncorked a bottle of wine and am now back gazing wonderously at your fantastic ideas. If only I had avocado and crab meat here...

My wife is away on holiday and this was to be my week getting back in shape. I'm actually sitting here in my workout gear and ready to go, so shame on you - I think I'll be here instead.

Keep it coming.

[Celeste]

such an inspiring post... very thought-provoking! :) your description about the shrimpiest shrimp & bursting oranges actually reminds me of a scene in the movie ratatouille where the chef rat was teaching his brother how to "eat" cheese & grapes!

[Tom Bastek]

Hey, great post, but where ya been! Come back soon!

Tom Bastek
Hilton Head Popcorn Co.
www.hiltonheadpopcorn.com

[savory-fun]

I just got to your page from Elise blog-links page and find a lot of things very usable for my own recipes collection. I like your experiments, thank you and we'll looking forward for new kitchen miracles from you

[Michael]

I know exactly what you mean about not having time to write. I’m taking a series of university home study corses, and managing two small businesses, and starting a third business. So writing in my blog sometimes gets put on the back burner. But I do try to write as much as I can. Keep up the good work.

[Luke]

We recently discovered your blog and think it's great.We just started ours about two weeks ago.Yes exciting,but we can certainly understand that it can be time-consuming and perhaps a little daunting.We agree that though making a food taste more like itself than seems possible takes a little more time, it is most assuredly worth the effort-it's a constant quest for us!

[Christie Gray]

Mmm! I just stumbled across your blog, and I am very impressed! I am going to take a look at your old posts now, and subscribe to your feed =)

[Lady Amalthea]

Making food taste like itself? That's such a worthy goal, one I've been striving for as well. If you're in the market for a new cookbook, may I suggest Tom Colicchio's Craft of Cooking? It's delicious, beautiful, and is all about making wonderful ingredients shine.

[jeena]

Hi there you have a lovely blog. :-)

[sam]

clement - I hope you are ok - just checking in and hoping your life is going well these days.
Sam

[amrita]

clement, are you ok? you've been missing for an awfully long time

[Michel]

Jean-Georges é divino.

[Kurt Bender]

Totally agree. That should be the goal of most chefs. In my book at least. Tom Colicchio's Book is great.
K
www.ptownpatio.com

[Niall Harbison]

Hi there

I just stumbled accross your blog through stumbleupon and love the clean design and the photos. I already have about 20 blogs in my RSS so don't normally stop and read them as already have more than i can read but the design here caught my eye! I started off as a blogger myself a year ago and like your blog always wanted to keep it fresh and clean and easy to read. I have started my own site for food bloggers, chefs and foodies in general to meet and share photos called www.ifoods.tv and would love to see some of your photos there. I set it up because I was frustrated that not enough people were seeing what I thought was my excellent blog and I afelt that every blogger in the world probably thought the same! It is basically a platform for bloggers to show off their photos and meet other foodies. Keep up the good work on the blog, have added you to make it 21 food blogs no! Cheers!