Failures happen to everyone at some point
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- October 2, 2021
- 771
“Be careful about adding spice; you can always add more, but you can’t take it out.” —Julia Child
That’s basic, common-sense advice, and I completely neglected it and ruined a dinner, making it inedible. It was the vindaloo recipe I shared with you last November, and it requires making up a spice paste as the first step of the dish.
Garlic, chilies, coriander seed, cumin and other spices are ground up with a little vinegar until you get a rough-textured paste. The recipe calls for a dozen dried red chilies, which I cut down to three or four for you when I shared it. My tolerance is pretty high, but a dozen is foolishness. I cut it back to five dried red chilies, thinking that would be fine.
Meanwhile, I roasted three sheet pans of vegetables in the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper. First was a small pan of halved Brussel sprouts, which I completely forgot about and burned to ash. Trying to correct this, I slid cauliflower and broccoli in next and misjudged timing again. They weren’t burned but were beyond mushy.
The vindaloo underway, I reached the point of adding in the spice paste, stirred in tomatoes and let it simmer away for a half-hour until it was ready to taste. It was clearly much, much too hot.
I added honey hopefully, but the dish was lost. There is no recovering from spiciness once you cross a certain point. I plated it up, knowing fully we would have to toss it all and do something else, as was indeed the case. Our Indian craving went unrequited.
I like to share failures with you because they happen to everyone at some point, no matter how long we’ve been cooking or how many times we’ve made the same dish. I got an especially hot batch of dried chilies, and because they had to go into the spice mix up front, adjustment was a little harder. Next time I’ll use one, maybe two chilies, and add a little cayenne if needed later on.
The main reason we mess things up in the kitchen is likely due to a distracted mind. Even for dishes you can make in your sleep, you have to have a certain amount of focus and concentration. Not just to be sure you’re doing things in the right order and for the right amount of time, but because a distracted mind can be a danger. If you aren’t paying attention, you could easily make the terrible mistake of trying to catch a falling knife. Of course, everything that falls off the counter should be treated as a falling knife and let go, no matter what it is, every time. That’s how you train your brain to deal with a falling knife. No matter what falls, even if it’s a jar lid, jump back out of the way. Stay focused and don’t try to catch things.
Pay attention to the amount of salt you’re adding. Watch out for too much spice. Be aware of ingredients that have expired. Don’t forget something in the oven. Without paying attention it’s not at all difficult to forget you just took a pan out of the oven and grab the handle with a bare hand.
In my case I wasn’t so much distracted as careless. Every pack of dried chilies is going to have a different level of heat, and the variation extends to individual chilies. Every day of cooking is a whole new ballgame. The ingredients you’re using are not exactly the same as last time. Humidity plays a role, and your state of mind certainly influences what you’re doing.
I owe my family another round of vindaloo — and more careful attention on my part with keen respect for the little fireballs I’m adding to their food.