rotation

the colder months have left me feeling pretty uncreative in the kitchen and i think i’ve lived on a rotation of five dishes all winter. after confessing my guilt about this to my favorite food friend recently, she gently responded that winter is the perfect time for laying fallow and allowing yourself to take a rest. 

i’m just starting to understand the effect the seasons have on us in this way living in florida for almost a decade, i had forgotten the natural pattern our bodies and spirits follow mirroring the cycle of the seasons. but spring is almost here and i feel the stirring within… spring is a good time for giving back after all i’ve soaked in during my hibernation.

as for those five dishes…. they flex a little but pretty much all revolve around my current essentials: plenty of seasonal veggies, a drizzle of sesame oil, poached eggs, a mix of brown and black rice with millet, and dried seaweed (i’m addicted to wrapping rice with it).

obstructure

lazy sunday slurping noodles, nose running, intense heat

sweet and spicy mingle together like friends around a table

home-cooked stew of braised potato, onion, carrot… a veggie version

some friends of mine have started an inspiring project called Obstructure. Obstructure provides a series of “ob”stacles to a community of writers, visual artist, performers or anyone else with ideas to spare. it is the artist’s challenge to transform the obstacle into the “structure” that will become their art which will then be compiled into a quarterly ‘zine. Obstructure is based in seoul but open to creatives anywhere in the world so come join us!

the theme of Obstructure’s first issue is sijo, a traditional Korean poem comparable to Japan’s haiku. each participant was given a challenge specific to his or her talents and interests. what you see above is the product of my sijo challenge, titled andong jjimdak, which led to three great meals of one of my favorite foods shared with some of my favorite people.

slow food

preserving korean culinary traditions

(our teacher and her niece, a student of korean slow food)...

one of the highlights of the documentary was a trip to gyeongju, the ancient capital of korea, for a lesson on korean fermentation processes. korean cuisine is the epitomy of slow food because its core ingredients are doenjang (soybean paste), gochujang (chili paste), kanjang (soy sauce) and of course kimchi... all are fermented, some for up to five years. the longer it is fermented, the higher quality and richer taste it has.