Back to Basics

Settling in to Melbourne slowly. The snow-less winter and torrential rains have made it difficult with temperatures reaching a low of six degrees. So going around on foot is a nightmare considering home is a 20 minute walk from the tram and work and school is another fifteen minutes. The nose has been runny the past few weeks but thankfully—knock on wood lest I jinx it—there have been no signs of getting the flu (or the dreaded swine version of it) or a fever.

On the plus side, the produce looks good. The groceries are a comforting sight but I avoid them as much as I can and go to smaller vendors and, if I’m not too lazy, to the Preston Market where I get all excited dreaming up things to cook. While I do have access to a kitchen with a fairly large stove, oven, grill and microwave, cooking needs to be swift as there are five of us who share it. I am forced to rethink the economics of everything, of cooking mostly for myself, and how tiring and laborious it is to cook for a single serving. While some of us share meals and cooking implements (there’s a Thai girl who works as a line cook in a Thai restaurant here and she makes a really mean spicy red curry), our equipment is pretty basic. I bought a block of parmesan and mozzarella and forgot that no one at home has a grater so I ended up shaving the cheese with a paring knife. Someone bought a whole chicken for roasting but forgot we have no ovenproof roasting dish. There’s a window of opportunity during Wednesdays when I don’t have to go to work early so I sometimes cook up stuff for the next few days and pack them in plastic containers for reheating. Last Wednesday, I made fusili with tuna, tomatoes, olives and parmesan, and a lot of chicken adobo and the two has been lunch and dinner for a few days.

I put mushrooms in the adobo. I love mushrooms. And if there’s anything that has gotten me giddy about buying produce, it has got to be the mushrooms. I miss shiitakes a lot but I am able to replace my obsession over shiitakes with white mushrooms that are the size of a hand (like the ones below) and portobellos, king of all mushrooms.

Some days are simply too lazy so I end up slicing and putting everything on toasted bread. My favorite remains to be tomatoes, basil and mozzarella.

There are other days when I just eat an apple.