Sometimes
I think my delight in cooking and food is an obsession. Luckily I’m not alone
and Ian is similarly smitten.
We
have long had an avid interest in healthy eating and fresh locally produced
vegetables and fruit. I guess it was born of our decision to become vegetarian
and then the ongoing questioning and researching of food options and nutrition that that
necessitated especially in the early days when it was not so easy to eat out as
a veggo.
As
well as inventing, adapting and creating new dishes and fusion food, we both
love entertaining at home and sharing the food we produce with others.
A
good market is cause for celebration and although it is difficult to beat the
Adelaide Central Market, the Centenary Farmers’ Market in Thimphu with its
huge organic, locally grown section upstairs is a pretty good second.
Visiting that market is the highlight of the
end of our working week and the temptation to purchase more than we two can
consume is enormous and we often give in to it.
The
market and the acquisition of an oven has allowed us to once again engage in
our favourite pastime of cooking up a storm and inviting friends and colleagues
over.
When
we return to Bhutan from Australia, there is always a selection of food items
in our luggage, not because the supply here is so scant but because we so want
to make dishes that Bhutanese friends would never have tried.
Although
we have not yet been back in the kingdom 2 weeks, we have indeed indulged in our
most obvious obsession several times in the last 12 days!!
A
brunch last Sunday, a birthday cake for a dear friend, a production line of
shortbread for the annual concert food stall last night and a range of
delectable meals shared together and with friends, at home are just the
beginning of the gastronomical delights we have already whipped up since our
return.
The sheer range of fresh produce here in the capital is cause enough to cook up a storm, when we consider the slim pickings of previous postings, so here's to another year of tasty treats shared with willing locals and good old fashioned hospitality.
