18 October Tuesday

I am sitting here, again looking at Roy Andries de Groot’s Feasts for All Seasons, and I am ready to put it back on the shelf. Why do I shy away from this book every time I am determined to try it out? When I re-read the Pumpkin Soup recipe, I remembered the reason why. It was not Roy’s idea to serve the soup in the pumpkin, it was mine. Or rather, I recalled it from reading someone else’s recipe. And then I only had chicken stock so I used that instead of Boeuf Bouillon and Glace de Viande like those are even acceptable substitutions. Next thing ya know Roy vander groot is nowhere to be found. I just fudged the recipe last time, and I would fudge it again this time. Among my least favorite things in the kitchen: cutting corners and substitutions. Sometimes we can bend a little if there is a really nice biscuit dough for instance or whatever. Out and out substitutions should be stridently avoided. Yes, go to the store, get the cilantro, parsley is not the same. Majoram is not oregano. So, I scrapped the whole menu and am starting again.

Maybe at the end of the day, I sort of think that some of Roy’s way of cooking things is out of date and it just kinda doesn’t excite me. He comes from a bygone era when a man might have a pint of meat glaze in his fridge at all times of day and night. Wait a minute, Benji, isn’t this the whole point of cooking from these old cookbooks? That you expose yourself to ways of cooking and ingredients that nobody likes anymore and maybe will kill you? Shouldn’t dozens of baby farm animals die in your pursuit for an elevated level of human elegance and sophistication? Yes, and by golly, that’s what I’m gonna do. OK, Roy, it’s just you and me. You might reduce my broth, but you will never reduce my spirit.