Hello there. Remember me? I bet you don’t. It’s been such a long time. Nearly a year now. You went and did your thing and I went and did mine. I got swept away in the current of life. It’s funny how that happens sometimes. The ability to lose all track of time, only living moment to moment with no gaze into the future.

Some say this is a good thing, but I don’t think so in case. The focus widens, everything vies for your attention and nothing comes out on top. Your little hobbies become chores. Something you tack on to the end of your to-do list and go “eh, good enough”.

Never mind though, we are back in the present. We’ve slowed down, taken a break and finally have a chance to breath.

It is absolute chaos at present. The year started off with a blaze, a literal one that ravaged a continent. We got a break from that, dropped our shoulders a little. One breath, two breath. Pandemic. Gasp.

Funny that, the chance we get to slow down and take a breath is the time when the world is going at full speed. The slowdown has meant we can finally pursue those passion projects. In the midst of panic there has been light.

Communities have come together; knowledge is being provided everywhere you look, and help is given everywhere you ask. Social media has taken a positive turn, it is now social. What we have lost in temporary physical connection, we have gained in connection.

I commented earlier that I’ve been living life at full speed, with no opportunity to look forward. Now that we have all slowed down, I feel the urge to look at the past. Especially the tales of food past.

Food is much more than just nourishment. Food tells a story, much like a photo or a tale, significantly more detailed, but significantly more tangled. It tells a tale from the way we eat, what we eat, dinnertime rituals and their cultural impact. Food follows people, it charts human history. Knowledge of food is one thing that we take with us everywhere we go. We just fail to see it.

I am deviating from the old style of posts that I did, where I cook a recipe, “review” it and comment a little. Instead, I am shifting my focus to the past. A deep dive into the history of a dish, and where is it found at present.

I will be exploring the origins of the dish, where did it come from and originate, leading to where is it now; how has it changed over time and who changed it, who took it with them from country to country and why. I don’t mean it in a literal sense though. With globalisation you can get everything everywhere. This isn’t going to be a tale of the travel of the croissant from Paris to London. No, this is the tale of what made a dish country specific and how so, and how does that dish vary from region to region, country to country.

This undertaking is going to be a lot of work. I haven’t studied any form of history for the better part of ten years, after dismissing history as an irrelevant subject. Oh, how the tides have turned.

I hope to write one historic post a month, allowing me time to research, draft endlessly, and fall down a rabbit hole. In-between I hope to write up some recipes, discuss what I’ve been cooking, eating and drinking, and maybe some recommendations.

Ultimately, you and I eat the same. I hope to show you as much.

For now, keep your eyes peeled, enjoy the slowdown.

- Moose