I have been on a bit of a leave of absence from my blog. Sorry for the break, however the commencement of the Food Network Canada Show: Recipe to Riches has made me want to blog. The first episode was “Sweet Pudding and Pies.” The winner Glo MacNeil, a retired lovely lady from Lunenburg made a “luscious lemon dessert. She commented on the fact that her recipe was good but simple, with only six ingredients: flour, sugar, lemon, butter, milk and eggs. I have made a simple but delicious lemon tarte with the same ingredients, changing milk for heavy cream. It is a delicious dessert: simple, light and a wonderful balance of flavours. This brings to mine how the combinations of fresh, unadulterated ingredients make a huge difference!
Mrs. MacNeil’s, “Luscious Lemon Pudding” has been mass produced by Loblaws. It has gone from a simple yet exquisite six ingredients to fifteen ingredients. I have never tasted her original recipe, but I am confident it would have the balance of sweet and tangy that my lemon tarte does. The massed produced product unfortunately does not. The lemon flavour is lacking, and the cake is heavy. Furthermore the ratio of lemon pudding to cake is poorly balanced. Regardless, of the disappointment in the mass produced product it highlights the importance of home cooking and using fresh, and as local as possible ingredients.
I urge everyone to take a renewed commitment to cook with fresh ingredients with names you can pronounce. Try to eat local, and be happy for the good food that we have access to.
BJV
Welcome back & totally agree. It saddens me to no end to visit a friend and see a fridge/freezer full of preprocessed meals. I think it was Eric Ripert who said “Something happens to me every time I cut into an onion.” It’s like the first step of a journey, you never know where you’re going to end up. I’ve just started dabbling with making my own mozza. Such a simple recipe, but I know mastering the technique is something that’s going to make me years. An investment I’m willing to make.