I had a kitchen epiphany this week. Or rather, an unepiphany.
You see, I am a big Jamie Oliver person. I know it’s not very cool to admit to this – especially in foodie circles – but I just adore his boyish grin, obsession with school dinners and his penchant for wrapping things in pancetta.
I also love that he has turned out to be such a familified sort.
Basically, when Jamie talks I listen.
So when he told me that homemade stock was ‘easy and delish!’ …. I believed the bastard.
For around 2 years now, I have been buying and roasting whole chickens, despite not being big on meat on the bone.
I have been dutifully freezing their carcasses until I have a couple, and then I have been bunging them into a giant stock pot I purchased specifically for this purpose.
I’ve tossed in all the relevant veg, I have lovingly tied up little bouquet garni with string, I have simmered and simmered and simmered some more, I have patiently sieved off the fat.
And you know what? My homemade chicken stock is NOT ‘the only way to go’, Jamie.
My homemade chicken stock sucks.
It’s tasteless and bland and it ruins my soups. So there.
Luckily, the kitchen gods obviously got tired of listening to a petulant sweaty-faced me turning the air about my stove bluer than Bridget Jones’s soup, because last week, the lovely folk at NoMU sent me a bottle of their chicken fond to try.
Maybe it’s because it has a fancy name, or because it’s already liquid or because I felt occupationally obliged… but readers, I fell on this fond with a fervour that was almost unseemly.
And for the first time in what feels like forever, actually turned out a decent chicken soup.
So it is with much delight that I turn my back on homemade stock forever… This realisation has made me so happy that I am hungry for more.
Are there other mean-spirited kitchen myths out there that need if debunking? Please, dearest readers, please… email us instantly and share.
You might immeasurably improve some cook’s kitchen experience. And we’ll throw in a R250 Kalahari voucher to boot.
We had our second Vin-atics evening on Monday, this month with KWV Wines sponsoring the wines for pairing.
It was a blast! You can catch a sneak peak on our blog, but the newsletter, stuffed with all the vinous fabulousness of the night will be out tomorrow.