So what’s this blog even about…?
In a way it’s about life I suppose.
It began with the intention of providing cooking strategies from a spontaneous context but quickly ventured off piste.
Cupboard challenge is really a culinary analogy for the Zen concept of beginners mind.
It’s a philosophy of the growth mindset, of resourcefulness, originality and exploration. The confidence and freedom to harmonise with your environment, try new things and be adaptable to your circumstances.
In the privilege of a first world existence, struggling to think what to cook seems so trivial and yet the internet is saturated with content talking about it. It seems our relationship with food is still intrinsic to our psyche.
Cooking is a subject more complex than the sum of its parts. It encompasses layers that entwine with so many aspects of our lives. There are simple likes and dislikes, health considerations, concerns of sustainability, ethics, environmental impact, a craving for variety, cost implications and a limited amount of time to chew on it all.
We all have very deep, complicated and personal relationships with food. In many ways it’s a very primal link that still lurks despite our modern lives; knowing how to cook is only part of it.
Apparently there are an estimated 6 trillion recipes out there according to the all knowing Google, so as a consequence of our obsession, we now have a problem of inspiration overload. A proverbial haystack as we try to find that damn needle.
The cupboard challenge really summarises my relationship to food and cooking, which in turn has influenced my attitudes and philosophy to other areas of life.
I’ve always cooked very instinctively and without any great concern for mistakes. I continue to consume recipes on every platform or medium that I come across but I’ve always had a bit of a tendency to do my own thing.
I believe that there is more value to general concepts, strategies or systems in the kitchen than simply recipes. For most of us on a day to day basis, cooking is fluid and spontaneous, demanding more flexible parameters than a recipe.
(Plus you can never trust a recipe unless you wrote it yourself!)
I started writing this blog without any clear direction and have since had to edit and write this introduction more than once.
What I’ve found is that it’s difficult for me to separate myself and my life journey so far, from food and cooking, which has always been such a constant and in many ways has been a teacher.
So, if you decide to read any of this blog be warned that like my cooking I can go a bit off piste, food is like a companion but is still just one of the elements of my life.
Whatever your reasons, thank you for visiting, I’m very happy to have you here.
James
Cupboard Challenger