FOODS
Sunday Roasts, Pizza, Spaghetti Bolognese, Chicken Tikka Masala, Thai Green Curry, Banoffee Pie and Apple Crumble are national favourites.
Appetising as these are, they are not foods. They are dishes, made up of foods. What you need to get your kitchen sorted are real foods - avocado, chicken, fish, lemons, grains, eggs. Which real foods you love will be the foundation of your Magical Kitchen. Everything else you need to cook will revolve around these.
Real foods belong to one of the five classic groups - protein, vegetables, fruit, grains and dairy. Each group can be divided into Food Families - red meats/white meats/game, oily fish/flat fish/gastropods, root veg/green veg/squashes, stone fruits/citrus fruit/currants, wet cheeses/blue cheeses/hard cheeses/butter/cream, nuts/seeds. Food Families are the first of the three Foundation principles.
There are two types of foods you want in your kitchen:
Those foods you stock all the time, because you love them so much - your favourite Magical Foods
Those foods you rotate, week to week, for variety and sparkle - your much-liked Go To Foods
This gives you a kitchen that can knock out a large range of dishes at ease, and use up what you have in your cupboards, larder and fridge. This is essential during periods where you can’t get to the shops - saving money and reducing waste.
You will also need some staple foods – grains, rices, flours, pastas, noodles, pulses, breads, eggs, milk, cream, yoghurt, butter – as you like. To note, cookery books often describe various oils and vinegars, mustards, sauces and pastes as staple foods, when the better name for them are condiments.
FOODS Payoffs
Making your shopping lists easier. Armed with your new knowledge, you will know what foods you want to have in stock regularly. Shopping will become less of a haphazard affair – saving you money and time and reducing waste.
Helping you buy recipe books that are more you-focussed. As tempting and beautiful as most recipe books are, you can now look through the indexes to see how many of your favourite foods are included. Chefs and cookery writers have to include dishes that speak to everyone, so select books that match up with your favourite foods.