Cookery

THE ART OF COOKERY
Cooking has long been a staple in the tradition of family and bringing people closer together. In my opinion there is nothing more satisfying than a nice home-cooked meal on a wintry evening. Food is a like any hobby in that practice makes perfect, and the only way to hone your cooking skills is by doing. In the contemporary food market there is a huge variety of useful resources from cooking shows and classes to ‘do it yourself’ methods like cook books and internet tutorials. However you may have taught yourself to cook over the years, it’s no secret that the topic of food is popular and more accessible than ever.
What I want to get across to people is the following question – is cooking an art form? There is no easy answer to this as every single person will have their own views on this topic. From my point of view though I believe yes, cooking can be a form of art as there is a strong difference between cooking food and eating food. An article in The Guardian agrees with me here stating how “food becomes not only spiritual nourishment but art, sex, ecology, history, fashion and ethics.” Food and cooking is a fantastic way to connect with those closest to us and strangers alike. Much like music being a universal language, it doesn’t matter what language you speak or what culture you’re from, food speaks to everybody.
Not everybody realizes how much talent and practice has gone into their meal being cooked for them. This is why things like cooking channels are ideal as they offer insights into what it takes to successfully run a restaurant, work in a kitchen as a chef and offer tips on how to create the tastiest dishes.
Cookery enthusiasts and celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Nigella Lawson all chose to be chefs and food writers because they love cooking and how versatile it is. To create a visually stimulating dish you really have to put a lot of thought into the whole process, from planning what ingredients you’re going to buy, to calculating the timing of a perfectly cooked meal down to the finishing presentation.

紅茶暖意 

紅茶暖意

對紅茶的喜愛起始於一家葉門餐館。餐館裝潢普通，侍應生的服務也頗為隨意，但顧客幾乎都是中東樣貌的男女，憑此一點，我對這家餐館就充滿期待。點完菜，我到櫃檯角落去取茶。茶水裝在一個電保溫水筒裡，旁邊一櫃塑料水杯，還有一盒牛奶。我接了一杯清亮的玫瑰色紅茶，沒放牛奶，小心翼翼端到桌上。

只一口我就傾倒了，那複合口味的甜茶色味令我驚艷，卻又充滿溫厚平和的關懷和親密；猜不到裡面放了些什麼，卻能感受到煮茶人一樣樣往裡添加香料時的心意。
再去葉門餐館惦記的不是它的羊肉和麵餅，而是首先直奔紅茶，一茶在手，再慢慢點菜。後來，當我喝了印度餐館的奶茶後，更對紅茶另眼相看。
在印度餐館，飯菜差不多吃完了，茶才端上來。女侍應兩手捧著一個白色的瓷杯，上面倒扣著一隻小小的白瓷盤，隨著她的腳步，杯與盤輕輕撞擊，發出細碎的「鏗鏗」聲。紅茶滾燙時味道最好，蓋嚴茶杯可減少香味與熱度的流失，而印度餐館用的是盤子而不是茶杯蓋，讓人有了一些特別的期待。
牛奶煮出的印度甜紅茶馥郁醇厚，茶香與奶香纏綿融合，隱隱夾雜著姜的鮮辣味。我本來已經飽了，喝著紅茶忽然有點捨不得離開,生出再叫一杯的衝動。
第二次去印度餐館喝茶後，我下決心要自己在家做紅茶。查找了中東茶、葉門茶、亞丁（葉門古城）茶、阿拉伯茶、埃及茶、摩洛哥茶、印度茶等各種茶的做法後，算是瞭解了烹煮紅茶的訣竅。不得不承認，奶茶是紅茶最恰當的存在，牛奶可以消減紅茶的苦澀，讓各種香料有所依托。
以前偶爾做奶茶都是泡好了茶再加牛奶，犯了程序上的錯誤，奶與茶並未達到水乳交融的境界。正宗的奶茶是將牛奶以小火煮到溫熱，放入紅茶包，邊煮邊攪拌，直到牛奶變色，茶香溢出。這時要加入肉桂粉
也就是磨成粉的桂皮——我們用它來燒肉、滷肉，美國人用它來烤麵包、蛋糕，穆斯林用它來煮茶。肉桂粉味道 濃重，最好以對待黃金粉那樣吝惜的心情一點點添加，以免加過量造成喧賓奪主。
印度紅茶中還有一樣特殊香料，那就是我前所未聞的小豆蔻（Cardamom）。為了買它，我專門跑了一趟中東特產店撒哈蒂斯。想不到小豆蔻粉身價不菲，一磅要三十八美元，作為比較，可參考其他香料的價格：白胡椒十四美元／磅，五香粉十一美元／磅。幸好，用來煮茶所費不多，特產店也都是小包裝，一小盒小豆蔻不過三、四元。
加入小豆蔻粉後，攪拌著再加入薑汁和糖，倒在杯裡就是一杯香氣搖曳的紅茶。我的紅茶雖然不如餐館的，喝下去還是可口可心、暖意縈懷。愛情有甜蜜也有苦澀，食物給我們的永遠都是溫暖和慰藉。
 

張幸