Kitchen Paper, not so confidential – the culinary scrappy notes of a chef.
Just like oh so many others, this chef has been inspired by my fellow culinary professionals, and this blog is to be my notes, or rather my ‘kitchen paper, not so confidential’.
From the raw and unfiltered utterances of the late and still great Anthony Bourdain, and the utterly inspiring Angela Hartnett, to the lesser known social media real-life chefs like Hanalei Souza (LadyLinecook), and folk like giant cheeseball Ned Palmer (cheeses of the world beware!) and baker extraordinaire Richard Bertinet, us cheffy lot take our brother/sisterhood where we find it.
We’re not, in general, overly fussy. Sure, we’d all like to splash out and dine at a Michelin star restaurant from time to time, but more often than not it’s our family’s tables that bring us the most joy.
But, does that mean only the pros bring a sense of pride to being a chef? No, definitely not. How could anyone forget the heartwarming narratives of Stanley Tucci and Nigella Lawson (not strictly speaking chefs, but they love cooking far too much not to count them). These too bring me joy, a sense of communal familiarity, and of course passion for our lives’ work.
What’s in my culinary kitchen paper notes?
I have, as of this year, been cooking consistently for 40 years; from my first humble meals prepared under the watchful eye of my mum, and professionally for 30 years after entering into training for the hospitality industry. This ‘achievement’ of sorts is not something I ever thought I’d wake up one day to realise.
For many, myself included, we’ve first rallied behind and later became dismayed at the work of Jamie Oliver (I’ll never forgive him for spilling the beans on cheap meat cuts). We’ve cheered on the downsizing dream of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (I am an OG River Cottage fan after all), and the delightful escapism of The Hebridean Baker.
Thinking back, there’s definitely one name who stands out to me above all others. Margaret Fulton. She was, having passed away in 2019 at the grand age of 94yrs young, the matriarch of the Australian kitchen. Through her cookbooks generations of cooks mastered feeding their families, entertaining dinner guests, and sustaining children through their schooling. She was, and always will be, a pseudo-godmother to me, and I am eternally grateful to the Margaret Fulton Cookbook (ISBN: 978-1743794814), and should you ever find a copy, be sure to add it to your shelves.
What will this chef do with their not so confidential kitchen notes?
Well, in the long term that remains to be seen. I have a number of cookbooks started, but not completed, on my hard drives. I have articles that I’ve never bothered to offer out for publication, and whimsical stories/food memories that I jot down and collect, hoping that one day they might be of use. Then there’s the recipes. So. Many. Recipes.
My hope is that this blog will become somewhere I can collect and collate all of these scraps of paper. Piece by piece I can gather them together and make something useful, or at least entertaining from them.
As I’m traveling again now, I’d also like to think I’ll get around to compiling useful reviews of places I stop and dine at, or grab a tasty takeaway from, and provide some helpful hints and thoughts on my experience.
So, if you enjoy the these sorts of ramblings, feel free to follow along, drop a comment on social media (Instagram or Substack), or go ahead and message me through the contact page.
Until next time, may your knives stay sharp, your boards be clean, and your pots never boil over!