Asourfoodsuppliesweredepleted,wetriedtobookanotherdeliveryslotwithJumbobutthesoonestdatewecouldgetourhandsonwasalmostamonthawayandalltheothersupermarketdeliveryplatformswerejustasfaroff.Stilldeterminedtostayawayfromanyplacethathadmorethat2people,Iscrambledtofindalternativesuppliersonline.Afterhoursuponhoursofsearchingontheinternet,mypartnerandIwereabletofindalternativefoodsuppliers.Wehadtoko4all.nl(mylittlephilippines)forasianingredients;mushroomxl.nlforproduce;beefensteak.nlformeats;boerthijsbezorgt.nlfordairyandafewproduceitems;andkaasmarktonline.nl(VandenHerik)forcheese.Itwasreallyinterestingtofindoutaboutthesesmallandmediumscalebusinessesaseachofthemseemedtohavetheirownstoryastradersandfarmers.Forthemostpart,theirservicesfeltverypersonalbecausewegottotalktothemonthephoneforonereasonoranotherevenifweorderedeverythingonline.Strangelyenoughthepackagingthattheirproductsweredeliveredinseemedtomatchourimpressionoftheir"personalities".Wealmostalwaysgetsweetlittlefreebiesfromtoko4all.nl(mylittlephilippines),andthecouplethatownsitevenpersonallydeliveredourordertoourdooronetimewhentheystruggledtosendourorderviatheirnormaldeliveryprovider.They're clearly my favourite supplier discovery (I might be biased because I love getting free snacks) but generally all of our alternative suppliers really provide high-quality products and excellent customer service. My partner and I have decided to keep some of them as food suppliers post-pandemic, augmenting them with supermarketpurchases only for a handful of products that are too expensive for us to continue purchasing regularly or household products we need but are not available from our alternative suppliers. I'mnotreallysurewhyweneverconsideredgettingourfoodfromsourcesotherthanthesupermarket,butthisexperiencehasdefinitelytaughtusadifferentwayofdoingthingsinourhousehold.
Firststepwastoplanamenuschedulebasedonwhatouralternativesuppliershadonhand.ItfeltlikeIwasonthatcookingshowwheretheyhadthosemysteryingredientchallenges-challengeaccepted.Ilearnedaslewofnewrecipesfrommyownasianbackgroundplusalotofotherculinarycultures.Ialsosummonedmymemoriesofmypaternalgrandmother's food preservation techniques and dishes. This was largely guesswork because, while my huge paternal family is almostALWAYS EATING when we'realltogether(mypartnercanattesttothisfromhisbeingpolitelyover-fedbyrandomfamilymembersofmine),Ineverpaidmuchattentiontothecookingandonlyprettymuchtookpartintheeatingofthefood.Planningamonth'sworthofmealsmayseemoverlydramatic,butitwasreallymoretoensurethatthefoodweorderedwouldnotgotowasteandthatwewouldhaveenoughfooduntilthenextdelivery.Wediddeviatefromthemenuscheduleonoccasionandmovedaroundsomeofthedishes,suchaswhencertainingredientswereabouttogobadsoonerthanweanticipated.Althoughnowweknowbettertheapproximateshelflifeofourfoodandtrytoarrangeourfridgeandpantryaccordingtoexpirationdate.Thedessertsandsweetsarenotprojectedonthemenuplanandarerandomlyrationedbasedonintensity-of-craving-in-
Thesocialdistancingguidelinesandthesemi-self-imposedhomequarantinehasdefinitelyacceleratedmydomesticskillsacquisition,althoughmypartnerstillmaintainsardentlythathe's the better cook despite his demotion to dishwasher. Oddly enough, I'vefoundjoyandcalminthisnewprocessasitbecomesournewnormalandwelearntocopetogether.
It's springtime here in Europe. You can tell by the sudden, welcome arrival of warmer, sunnier days and blossoms. It'sbeensomesmallreliefinthisgloomytimetofeeltheseasonsturn,areminderthatlifegoeson,resolutely.Atthestartofthelockdown,5weeksago,weworewinterclothes.TodayI'm in a t-shirt and jeans. Usually I'dconfirmthearrivalofspringwithnewfreshproduceintheshops.BackinAustralia,themeatindustryspruiksspringlamb,andyoustarttogetthefirsthintsofstonefruitcomingintoseasonatthegreengrocer's.
AsIslept,he’dgotcooking.
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It's also Easter now, which usually means very little to me, just a time for egg- and rabbit-shaped chocolates. Australian Easter is in autumn, and spring begins in September. Here, I can clearly see how the symbolism of eggs and bunnies is related to spring and an awakening from hibernation. The past two years I'vecelebratedOrthodoxEasterwithfriends,somewhatanewexperience.LastyearIwaswithGreekswhocookedlamb.Alotofit.Today,myRomanianfriendiseatingarawspringonion,heldinthehand.Prettymuchthemostminimalpossiblepreparation,arejectionofculinarytechnique,tojusteatthedamnthingandnotstandonceremony.
Cooking,somethingIonceloved,hasbecomeachore.It's part of the upside-downness of this particular period of history. Inside is where we work and socialise, time has become nebulous and meals now less a fun event and more a shared responsibility. I still have a Japanese food Instagram account, although I haven'tupdateditforquitesometime.ItwasonceawaytodocumentmealsIcookedformyselfandsharedwithothers.ThisperiodofisolationbeganwithplanstomakemanyJapanesemealswithmy"quaranteam";IlearnedalotofrecipeswhenIlivedinJapanandIenjoythesocialityofJapanesefood,whichisoftenmadecommunally.
ButI've been barely brave enough to leave the house, let alone go to shops to buy the things I need to make Japanese food. Most of these meals require substitutions anyway; at the best of times you can'tgeteverything,evenfromanAsiangrocer.Forexample,Iusuallysubstitutespringonionfornegi,aningredientubiquitoustoJapanesecuisine.Ilookupnegionwikipedia.org.InEnglish,it's called the Japanese bunching onion, apparently. See also; scallion, welsh onion, long onions. These are just approximations, synonyms, definitely not the same thing as negi. Sometimes I buy salade ui (salad onion) in Dutch supermarkets. It'sverysimilartospringonion,Ican'ttellthedifference.Iimagineithasthisnamebecauseofitsmildtasteandsocanbeenjoyedraw,inasalad.
Athome,overlunchtheotherdaywetalkedabouthowwedefinecooking.Couldyousaythatyoucookasalad?Wethoughtnot.Atbest,youprepareasalad.Butisn't cooking preparing food for consumption? Why is making a salad not cooking, then? Would you say that kitchen staff at fast food restaurants like McDonald'sarecooking?Orassembling,accordingtosetinstructions?Asateenager,IworkedonegraveyardshiftinaMcDonald's and then immediately quit. I'dfindithardtoarguethatIcookedinthose8hours.ButIdidpreparefoodforotherstoeat.Howdowethendefinecooking,then?
AGermanfriendsays"I guess in its origin, "tocook" must involve boiling water? Or heat, then. In German, for a salad I couldn’t say "tocook" (kochen) but would say zubereiten (prepare), and it would still apply to cooking in the sense of preparing food. I guess that would be the essence for me, preparing food to be eaten is cooking, no matter if it’s hot or cold. But in most cases you would not use the term, e.g. cook a salad".
"Nope"saysaSlovenian."at least my Croatian relatives do it. And I think Hungarians too. So I guess we are no exception since we pick up on others. My relatives call it LUK :) Sometimes they would dip it in salt or sour cream. Yes, for Easter especially, but throughout spring too".</p>
-placintecucartofi-Ican't even describe the comfort of a placinta, which I ate multiple times a day until they were gone. And I even figured out the trick to keep them soft - cover them while they'rehotwithplasticwrap.
