Happy Mother’s Day
For a Chef’s wife Mother’s Day brings a sense of longing. Particularly for those Chef’s wives who are moms themselves – afterall, you are very likely going to be spending it without him.
I’m a member of a Facebook group started by Kerilyn Russo (a fellow chef’s wife) called Married to a Chef. It’s a great forum for Chef’s wives to “meet”, share experiences and seek advice. A lot of the comments from an outsiders perspective would be considered pretty negative, but to those of us who live this life they seem totally relatable.
But what really surprised me this year, was a chat started by Kerilyn asking members how they would be spending Mother’s Day. For the most part, everyone who replied had really nice plans. They might not have been their first choice plans and only one said she would be with her hubby, but either way I found it super refreshing and really positive that these women were just getting on with it and making the most of their time. Chef’s wives are a seriously awesome bunch!
How are we spending it? Well, My Chef is back so that’s awesome. I do have to go into work, which is not awesome. But, today is definitely not a day for us. We (obviously) don’t have children, and our mom’s are all the way on the other side of the world.
So to our Mom’s…wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day!
Shannon x
I love being married to a chef
For all the times I whine or complain about life as the wife of a chef, I do lead a pretty charmed life. This weekend really reminded me how lucky I am. And in a way, how lucky anyone who’s married to a chef is.
I’ve just returned from Spain with some friends. We went to visit My Chef and try to experience a tiny portion of what his life has been like over the last month. He’s been living in the Basque countryside – about an hour and a half outside of Bilbao in Northern Spain. It truly is god’s country. Beautiful and green and so unlike the other parts of Spain I’ve visited.
We spent the weekend eating, drinking and savouring the relaxed foodie lifestyle. The restaurant My Chef has been working in – Asador Etxebarri – is in a tiny little hamlet called Axpe. There actually didn’t appear to be any houses near the restaurant, only fields and farm animals. Yet, when we arrived we were shocked to find the square full of families. The restaurant is on the church square, which is literally the center of the community.
Had My Chef not chosen to spend a month learning all about Basque cuisine and the techniques used at this specific restaurant, I NEVER would have had the opportunity to visit a restaurant in such a breathtaking setting. The food was divine, no question, but it was the location and the experience that blew my mind.
Those of us who are married to Chefs really are in a fortunate position; our partners are passionate, they are creative and they seek knowledge unlike any profession I’ve ever worked with. Chefs are in demand all over the world which means they (and by extension we) can travel. They are also natural feeders and hosts. They are also so grateful to get out of the kitchen, that they will pretty much do anything their partner asks of them (or at least mine is like this?!?!?) It is a very privileged position and I love riding the wave with him.
Of course there are major downsides to being married to a chef, but this weekend reminded me that the good totally outweighs the bad.
Shannon x
PS – I’ll share foodie photos in another post soon.
The World’s 50 Best
Tonight was a big night in the culinary world. If you believe Ferran Adria, it’s the biggest. And to be honest, when Ferran speaks, I tend to listen. He was quoted this weekend as saying "there is no doubt the World’s 50 Best Restaurants has changed the history of gastronomy. Today it is the most important event in cuisine."
Tonight was the 2012 announcement of the world’s top 50 restaurants. The PR did a good job of preparing us for a lot of change, but I was surprised at the scale of the change and I’ll bet that I wasn’t the only one caught offguard. The top 3 restaurants remained the same, but the rest of the list definitely diversified. Where in past years it has felt all European/American, tonight there were more restaurants from more continents…particularly Asia; clearly the next culinary hot spot.
Canada was again left off the list. I haven’t been out for a proper meal in Canada for many years, but every year I am surprised by the lack of Canadian representation. COME ON CANADA!!!! I take it as a personal slight, these judges need to spend more time in the true north strong and free.
But this year I had several reasons to celebrate. For one, I’ve eaten at loads of the top 50 restaurants and although I rarely remember my meals, I do remember each of the one’s that are listed. I am perhaps a bit surprised by the placement of some versus the others, but I am no food critic, so I’ll keep those thoughts to myself.
I am also celebrating for My Chef and his pals. Since January, he has worked in 3 of the top 50 restaurants – Noma (no.1), Le Chateaubriand (No.15) and he’s currently at Asador Etxebarri (No.31). He has absolutely nothing to do with the rankings, but after our mamoth fight this weekend it does make me feel better that he’s spent him time so productively. He set out to learn from the best, and clearly he’s made some good choices.
Congratulations to all the winners! Can’t wait to eat at Asador Etxebarri this coming weekend…weeee!!!!!
Shannon x
Marriage is hard
My Chef and I had an argument of EPIC proportions yesterday. His absence is taking its toll. I want him home – I want a partner and a marriage. I no longer want obscene phone bills or to see his grainy image over Skype. I want him to take equal responsibility for running our family!
He called this morning and we both apologized. I’m not sorry for the things that I said, they needed to be said, but they probably could have waited until we were together. He has promised that as soon as he is back from his European travels, he will stay put. He will play an active part in our marriage and he will try (and all I can do is ask that he tries) to prioritize me over food and the kitchen and most of all himself.
I really didn’t expect marriage to be this hard. Why doesn’t anyone tell you how hard it is before you walk down the aisle?!?!?! It wouldn’t have changed by decision, but a warning would have been helpful.
I wonder if Will and Kate have had any of these trials – after all, their happily ever after began 1 year ago today.
Happy weekend!
Shannon x
Tea Time
Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) is the world’s 3rd largest tea producer. And the Hills where the tea plantations are based was by far the most beautiful part of the country that we explored. So lush, so green and in many ways it made me think of Tuscany (where Tuscany has grapes, Sri Lanka has tea). Obviously there were more differences than similarities, but our driver kept saying have you ever seen anything like it. So Tuscany it is!
But I digress.
While we were there My Chef and I toured the Glenloch plantation. There are hundreds and hundreds of plantations and most appeared to be Scottish sounding. Maybe not a surprise as tea was first introduced to Sri Lanka in 1867 by a British planter, James Taylor, after a disease wiped out their coffee industry.
Upon arriving at the plantation the first thing you noticed, even before walking into the building, was the smell. The beautiful smell of tea was so strong you could almost see the vapours in the air. The next thing you noticed was how low budget tea manufacturing is. I didn’t expect it to be a slick operation, but the Glenloch building has most definitely seen better days and the equipment (or at least most of it) was really basic.
The process for tea making is pretty straight forward. Tea pickers still tend to be Tamil women, who hand pick the tea and leave their bags along the road for a driver to come and collect. Next the tea is placed on enormous racks with a fan blowing down on them to be dried. It is then placed in a crusher, a sieve and then it goes into an almost modern looking machine that will sort it by the size of the grain.
By the time we’d finished our tour, I was in desperate need of a tea. Something I hadn’t known, was that teas with a large grain are not meant to be drunk with milk. Only small grain teas, like Ceylon, are meant to be milky teas. And I am an Earl Grey lover, but didn’t realise that Earl Grey is considered a flavoured tea. So to make flavoured teas, Glenloch would take the raw tea from the facility we visited to another location and there it would have the flavours added. Kinda wish we’d seen that!
Another surprise to me was that because the tea industry is so lucrative for Sri Lanka they export almost all of the tea they produce. Locals drink the dust produced from the tea, rather than the tea itself.
If you ever find yourself in Sri Lanka definitely visit the tea regions. Stunning, interesting and if you are a tea lover, you can find very good teas and very reasonable prices.
Now, off to get myself a cuppa! Have a nice weekend.
Shannon x
Happy Birthday to The Bard!
Last week one of my colleagues told me he didn’t believe in William Shakespeare. Ummm…what?!?!?! How do you even respond to that?
Rather than responding, I just walked away. I don’t share his skepticism, in fact, I think Shakespeare should be celebrated. And the longer My Chef leaves me home alone, the more I feel like I can relate to some of Shakespeare’s stronger female characters (think Desdemona!). So, I felt very lucky to be invited with some friends up to Stratford-upon-Avon this weekend to do nothing more than celebrate him.
Today is Shakespeare’s birthday and the launch of the World Shakespeare Festival. The residents of Stratford-upon-Avon held a procession and a number of fun activities around town to mark the birthday celebration, and to mark the start of the Festival they staged The Tempest. The whole weekend was incredible! If you’ve never been to Stratford-upon-Avon before, I urge you to go. The town is beautiful and the theater fantastic.
But what took me by surprise is how cool Shakespeare is. If you don’t believe me, watch this video. If only I was this creative!
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Happy Birthday Wills!
Shannon x
How are you celebrating Earth Day?
At school we celebrated Earth Day by taking home a tiny sapling and planting it in our parent’s gardens. None of the meek little trees that my brothers or I planted ever grew into anything. Whether that was because my mom and dad didn’t want an evergreen growing in their very manicured garden is up for debate. But the exercise served as a good lesson for us as young children. It taught us to respect the earth, that we all have a hand in how it develops and that it is an incredibly powerful resource.
Now, married to a chef who is becoming more and more passionate about local and sustainable food sources I am reminded everyday what gifts the earth gives us. So to celebrate Earth Day, I am eating only locally produced and beautifully fresh foods today. My New Years resolution was to buy more locally produced foods and I haven’t done as good a job as I would like to, so from today I am renewing this resolution and will be better. Afterall, I love food and I love nature so really it’s my responsibility!
How are you celebrating Earth Day?
Shannon x
