What's that saying they have about breakthrough artists' problems with their second album? i think i might have felt a bit of that after our 2nd TWMF supperclub. this time round we decided to celebrate diwali by doing an indian vegetarian/vegan menu.
my trusted companions for the past two weeks have been Manjula's cooking videos on Youtube and my treasured book Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi. I've tried lots of recipes in this book in the past and most have come out flawless and delicious the first time round.
which is no excuse for me throwing every last ounce of caution to the wind and embarking on a 9-course menu featuring a few dishes i'd be making for the first time. silly silly mel! when will you learn? i get like this you see, i start going off in tangents and basically want to cook as many different things as i can.
on thursday we felt amazingly calm and in control. i had my list i was checking it once twice all the time...
i did a lot of prep, making chenna and then rolling them into little balls which would then be fried off at the last minute and mixed into the Royal Rice
but by saturday night, after the first set of dishes went out i was well stuck in 'the weeds' and didn't think i'd be able to break through. in the thick of it i started making silly mistakes and by the end of it i was shattered.
this doesn't mean the guests didn't have a diverse menu featuring dishes you'd probably not find in your average indian restaurant. or that the food was awful. empty plates came back, and the leftovers said it all. of all 9 dishes, two had significant leftovers. which means i really didn't need to make them. and THAT, my friends is the biggest lesson learned. it's not about how many different dishes i can squeeze in, it's about doing the ones i love with the care and attention they deserve, because that feeling makes it way all the way to the plate. and, while it was a hard lesson to learn, i'm glad i did!
so, here are some more 'lessons learned' this time around:
- don't make too many dishes for one night.
- make food that you feel comfortable, confident and passionate about
- practice the menu or at the very least every single dish before the day
- prep all you can the day before
i'm very much looking forward to living by these lessons at our next supperclub. hope to see you there!
1 comment:
hehe - well done gals! re trying each dish in advance - my recent experience with Ms Marmite doing the Russian Revolutionary Night says - you can win it on the night! but only with someone who's got as much experience as she does..otherwise, I would too practice practice and practice (as Lenin said!:)
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