The Dreaded First Post

So here it begins....

I decided it was about time to do something useful, not sure if this is it but let's give it a go. 

I'm a food fan, a massive food fan. Large portions of my day are spent day dreaming about food, about what ingredients will work together, what I should have for my dinner this evening, which supermarket will have the best ingredients, How what I made yesterday could have been better or more interesting, how I can improve it next time. 

I wouldn't say it was an obsession, more a passion. My TV recorder is full of cooking programs from all different chefs and cuisines. I spend many evenings making sarcastic comments at Gordon Ramsay as he berates another failed restaurateur or laughing at epic meal time on Youtube. 

So I've decided to start capturing some of my recipes. I should start off clear, I don't use recipes, I imagine them. I buy cookbooks all the time and most people give me them as gifts but I never use them, I just flick through the pages trying to get inspiration for my own creations. I'm experimental but I also cook for me, I know what I like and try and start simply before building and refining until I get something I love. 

The salt and butter police should stop reading now as this recipe book is all about comfort food, the most satisfying food in the world. I've spent years learning most cuisines from Sushi to Barbecue, to Italian to Swedish and I love them all in their own way but for me there's something so rewarding about good old fashioned comfort food, it's geographically independent, unashamedly bad for you and takes the best bits from every cuisine in a mission to deliver a warming, comforting smack in the face of flavour. 

If I had to choose, I would say my default influences are Italian-American although I am neither. The Italian part is borne out of hundreds of years of taking simple and scarce ingredients and making something special from them and them combining that with the over-indulgent convenience of American dishes. Just like Mama didn't used to make!

That doesn't mean it's all Pasta and Pizza although there will be some, I'm of British origin and currently live in South Africa and spent a large part of my adult life travelling to India so it's definitely not about a country, it's about flavour.

So I hope you enjoy the recipes. If you're a vegetarian, non-drinker trying to lose weight, this is not going to be for you but if you're looking for that occasional blow-out, it's all about me, I'll worry about it tomorrow kind of food, then you've come to the right place. It's not about junk food and hopefully it contains a level of refinement to separate it from fast food but it is tried and tested taste bud porn.

My favourite rule is....everything tastes better with cheese on it. Add bacon and you should be home and dry. If it's still not working, batter it and deep fry it!