I'm rather disinterested in things at the moment - every time I write an in depth post about something 'important' I delete it. I don't care enough to be invested in a solid opinion. Everything seems ridiculous and trivial and stupid - we seem bound to repeat the same mistakes collectively til the end of days, and I find that frustrating. What does one do when one feels like this?
Make food, of course. There's nothing political about food. And there's often something loving about it, an act which nourishes us both.
A few weeks ago I started a fermented chilli sauce with beetroot - normally I'd put carrot, onion, celery and chilli in a jar with brine and leave for a few weeks until suitably sour, but this time I had garden beetroot and spring onions, so did that instead. It was very purple and very hot, but had little nuance to it.
So I added the juice of a lime, a splash of ACV, some salt, some berries, and some pomengranate molasses, whizzing it up with a little xanthum gum so it became more viscous and saucey. The brightness of the fruits contrasts the earthiness of the beetroot nicely, with the sweetness of the pomengranate molasses tempering the sharpness of the chilli. Fermented chilli sauces are fun to make - they're witchy, alchemical. A dash of this, a pinch of that. If they work, you usually taste the brightness before the slap of chilli backhands you.
The pomegranate molasses fit with the middle eastern theme I've been doing with lately. Flatbreads, yoghurt, cummin, black onion seeds, mint, fried aubergine in a kind of deconstructed baba ghounash. This time of the year the garden produce begs to be treated this way - anything from Greece to Turkey to Iran. Hot summers and rustic food with fresh tastes.
I wrote last week about yoghurt flatbreads - I've taken to making a mix and leaving it in the fridge, and pulling out the dough to cook just as you would toast. They're soft and crispy and depending on what I fancy, I sprinkle with seeds or herby butters or smear with yoghurt.
The tomatoes too are glorious - I love them chopped with basil, a sprinkle of salt, some cucumber and garlic and red onion and olives. There's something meditative and sensual about it. The tomatoes are still warm from the garden, the cucumbers wet and crisp.
Add some fried eggplant and zucchini with cummin and garlic powder and a drizzle of honey and a dollop of the chilli sauce and I'm in heaven.
Have to say it's far better than watching Trump berate Zelinsky or the drop in BTC or that dickhead on the online community pages saying that the English were civil and Aboriginal people should get over it and stop trying to become wealthy off government incentives. Ugh. Disinterest. Same shit show, different day. Pass me the chilli sauce.
With Love,
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