The Urban Foodie: Purple reign...

Tuesday, 20 November 2007

Purple reign...

I couldn't help but notice this weekend the abundance of colour, in particular purple. It's one of the colours in food I can't help but get drawn to, along with red - (which like birds they are more acutely sensitive to the purples and reds of berries and fruits in the wild). It's not just blanket colour too - purple is featuring as streaks, patterns and mottling on a whole host of seasonal vegetables. My favourites are pictured, as they are so vivid and interesting. Part of me wants to paint a still life and admire them for their intensely hued beauty, the other part wants to cook them and layer those colours with flavours and textures.

6 comments:

Vida said...: Steven, delicious photos!! Borlotti beans are my favourite savoury dish in the world, since childhood. It is a stape that is often used in Yugosalvia where I was born and spent my first years. I still cook them, dry most of the year and then in summer when the fresh is available I do the Chilean version, I love them both ways. Vida x; 22 November 2007 at 09:31
Tony said...: Amazing photos (again). DO you really take them all yourself?; 22 November 2007 at 09:42
Steve Wallis said...: Thankyou Vida - you most post up a few of your Borlotti Bean recipes so that I can give them a try, especially the Chilean version.. X; 22 November 2007 at 09:44
Steve Wallis said...: Hi Anthony,
Yes, all the photography on here is my own - I guess somewhere along the line I am a frustrated photographer...to be honest all I do is see things then shoot..will be at Borough tomorrow shopping for a Thanksgiving dinner I'm hosting with a friend, so I'll be snapping away again.
:); 22 November 2007 at 09:47
Tony said...: ARGH! People like you make me sick :-p You really get some great caputres!; 22 November 2007 at 09:49
Steve Wallis said...: I hope not - I'm a nice guy really, and just flukey at taking pictures..; 22 November 2007 at 09:52

MUSINGS AND QUOTES ON FOOD

"My weaknesses have always been food and men, in that order."

Dolly Parton

"Fish, to taste right, must swim three times - in water, in butter, and in wine."

Polish Proverb

"A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do."

P.J. O'Rourke

"An empty belly is the best cook."

Estonian Proverb

"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch."

James Beard

"The smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us...."
Marcel Proust

"When the girl returned, some hours later, she carried a tray, with a cup of fragrant tea steaming on it; and a plate piled up with very hot buttered toast, cut thick, very brown on both sides, with the butter running through the holes in it in great golden drops, like honey from the honeycomb. The smell of that buttered toast simply talked to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cosy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender, of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries."
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame

"People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it is safer to harrass rich women than motorcycle gangs."
Unknown

"Scallops are expensive, so they should be treated with some class. But then, I suppose that every creature that gives his life for our table should be treated with class."
Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet

"Never eat more than you can lift.."
Miss Piggy, Diva.

"The squid is so cooperative. Its body forms a tube that can be stuffed with marvelous fillings. You don't have to be Greek to enjoy this one. "
Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet

"The joys of the table belong equally to all ages, conditions, countries and times; they mix with all other pleasures, and remain the last to console us for their loss."
Jean Antheleme Brillet-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste