I’d joined a workshop held by The Mindful Kitchen at the uber-cool Ace Hotel in Shoreditch. Heather Thomas, co-founder of The Mindful Kitchen, asked that question to bring our awareness to the changing of the seasons and how it affects our mood.
The aim of the workshop was to help us reconnect with where our food comes from and how it ends up on our plates.
While sipping bio-dynamic Italian wine we were presented with two set of cards – one had typical phrases to describe wine and the other had mindful phrases. We worked in pairs to match the cards. It was a simple exercise but helped me feel more connected to the wine I was drinking.
Next, we worked our way through a board of spices – smelling and tasting them to see if we recognised any of them. As it turns out, I a well versed in identifying spices, the only one the stumped me was liquorice. Again, a very simple task but really got me thinking about what I put into my cooking.
Post-workshop we were treated to seasonal cocktail (gin, fermented beetroot juice, chardonnay and egg white) despite having some controversial ingredients it tasted good.
For supper, The Mindful Kitchen partnered with Hoi Polloi to create a delicious and seasonal menu. First up was a smoked carrot tartar topped with a raw egg and served with crumbled feta and Jersey Royal crisps. The flavours married well together and the texture was hard to fault and akin to the steak variety.
Dessert was roasted rhubarb topped with stout ice cream and sourdough crumbs. I liked how they took a classic English fruit which I’m more used to eating in a crumble and offered a delicious alternative. Even I you’re not a stout fan, the ice cream is something you can get on board with.
My main take away from the evening was the startling statistic that an average British household throws out £60 worth of food every month. If there was ever a reason to be more mindful about the way we eat, that’s it.
Find out more about the upcoming Mindful Kitchen events here: themindfulkitchen.org/events
