Phat Food Reviews

Now, when you think of the best food I expect that you’re imagine ten course tasting menus, Michelin stars and fine dining. Whilst these things do generally mean good food, good food doesn’t have to fit those categories. Good food can be your favourite home-cooked meal, the best street food you’ve ever eaten or even a dirty takeaway. One of my closest friends is a chef and he does tasting menus, fine dining and Mexican street food. Yet, one of his favourite treats is a kebab. Yes, a 5 pound kebab from the takeaway with a 3 star hygiene rating (I’m assuming). So, why does good food have to break the bank? It doesn’t.

For me, food is about bringing pleasure and telling a story. Many foods tell the story of a culture, a family or a season. The best way to get to know people who are different from us, is by finding out about their food story. Who taught them to cook? What are there sacred family recipes? What food makes them feel like home? I love Mexican food, it’s full of bold flavours, great ingredients and is often relatively simple. The humble taco is effectively just bread, protein, mole, salsa and hot sauce. Can you find better than this glorious sandwich-like meal? Punchy citrus, sweet tomato, rich protein, fiery chilli! An explosion in the mouth, with fairly cheap ingredients. The gift of any cook is to bring ingredients to life without spending an arm and a leg. We don’t need truffle and caviar to get flavoursome grub. Asian food is a classic example of doing a lot with a little. Simple dishes on the surface, sag aloo, chana masala and an enormous selection of breads. It’s the cheap spices that enliven and enrich Indian dishes. Spinach and potato on its own is bland and unexciting, add some cumin, coriander and cardamom and you have the beginnings of a great dish. Chinese food often takes advantage of cheap cuts of meat, but infuses flavour into each dish with carefully selected spices and sometimes a whole lot of MSG, which occurs naturally in many ingredients – so stop avoiding it like some sort of plague!

So, what do I suggest when beginning your culinary journey? Try as many cuisines as you can, the more authentic the better! Many great dishes come out of what is known as, ‘poverty food,’ simple ingredients emboldened by loud spices for flavour. Even Italian food takes advantage of simplicity, using quality, easily available ingredients to showcase basic flavours being well cared for. A caprese salad is effectively 3 ingredients; mozarella, tomato and basil – balsamic being optional. The heart of world food is usually bread, be it an Italian foccacia, Indian roti, or Welsh lava bread. A vehicle to carry olive oil, curry or a hearty Welsh lamb stew. Let’s make great food accessible, it’s not all about gastronomic elitism, great food is whatever you enjoy. The Japanese have sashimi, raw fish with no rice, just wasabi, pickled ginger and soy sauce. This is one of the best examples of allowing the ingredients to speak for themselves. Often, when enjoying sashimi, I’ll have a few bites that are just the fish. This allows me to enjoy the quality fish, yellow fin tuna for example, without the interruption of soy or ginger.

I’d recommend trying Desi food, it’s traditional, authentic Indian cuisine. Desi breakfast is a great place to start, a chana with paratha and a cup of chai. Please eat loads of pasta, try fresh seafood by the sea and eat lamb in Wales. Eat what you like, try new things and think about your food. Mindful eating isn’t just good for your health, it’s also good for the soul. Think about the work that’s been undertaken to get that food to your plate. From the farmer, to the chef who prepared it for you. Be daring, cook things that requires you to learn new skills, experiment, make mistakes! You’ll thank me for it.

Concluding, I would say that we’re all different, we all have our own food story. What’s yours? Think about the dishes that punctuated your life, perhaps a childhood favourite? Perhaps the crappy school dinners you ate week on week? Or something new you’ve discovered recently! Just try more food and be brave!

Signing off,

Sammy Jay