Food for thought...

"You create much more than a wonderful meal when you cook food slowly - you create a mood, an expectation, a longing for good company and good times. Every delicious roast you've ever eaten has fond memories that go with it, every simmered shank is savored like a special occasion. We're lucky to have inherited our love of this classic kind of food. Our eyes still light up when we recall grandma's meatloaf or our own mother's special stuffing. And now it's our turn to do our versions of their lamb roast and garlic prawns, and to create our own classics, the dishes we'll be remembered for - the Thai green chicken curry or trout baked in vine leaves. But, most importantly, everyone needs to know how to roast, what to simmer and how to make a gravy, sauce and stuffing. These are essential facts of cooking life - because good roasts, simmers, gravies, sauces and stuffings are what makes life such a wonder thing."

Donna Hay, Modern Classics 1, 2002.