HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, wherever in the world you are reading this from. I have received many messages from as far as America, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. What a global village we have become. Whilst many things unite us, I would like to kick off 2025 by writing about two things dear to my heart: food and language.
English is a beautiful language, with multiple phrases that can convey a similar meaning. Say you want to explain that someone showed you a better way to do something. You can, depending on your situation and mood, use one of the following:
I was advised
I was taken to task
I was shamed into
I was riduculed into
I was gently reproached
I was severely reprimanded
I was shown the way forward
I was guided
I was shepherded
There is nuance and there is subtlety, and no one needs to feel bludgeoned over the head with someone else’s better idea or altruistic intention.
So it was that on Christmas Day I received a unique gift (one of many) from Junior 1 and D-i-L.
It was a vegetable peeler.
For a person who loves cooking and whose kitchen is full of top end equipment, I was…well, what would be the choice word to described my reaction? Flabbergasted, aghast, shocked, offended, speechless?
Before I could say anything, Junior 1 explained that my vegetable peelers are so bad at doing their job that he brought his own peeler when he came over to help cook the Christmas meal. He added that this peeler from Victorinox would change my life. Or at least, improve my efficiency when peeling vegetables.
I did not have the heart to say that I have new peelers from Kuhn Rikon (another Swiss brand) stashed away. And another from the Japanese brand Global, with interchangeable heads.
In fact when I went to look, I felt all of the following: surprised, taken aback, tickled. I marvelled that I had so many peelers without once thinking I should swap my old end-of-its-life peeler for a better one.
The Global peeler
My assortment of peelers, with the new Victorinox one to the left of the old red not-so-great one
I also have large peelers
The test: peeling a potato with the old peeler (top) and the new peeler (bottom)
Side by side: old peeler (left) and new peeler (right)
In a test of the seven peelers I now had, the new Victorinox was the winner. I was very impressed, and recalled that old Remington shaver advertisement where the entrepreneur Viktor Kiam said he liked the shaver so much “I bought the company”. In my case the most I can do is to buy a few more of these peelers, and not the entire business.
So why did I not think to change the peeler in time to cook our Christmas lunch? I have no answer, except that I have just been very busy of late, and both Mr Gochugaru and I have had a few background minor health issues. I have actually been slowly and steadily replacing my kitchen equipment. Anything between 25 and 35 years old is in the process of being renewed or replaced. I figured that if the replacement equipments lasts another 25 years, I will be over 80 years old by then. I would have a good run, and so would my new kitchen and its contents.
These new baking tins from USA Pans (top) replace the Mermaid ones (bottom), because I felt it was now better to have some with handles
How was our family Christmas lunch? It was great although slightly novel. Juniors 1 and 3, home-grown and self-styled Turkey Boys, jointed the Goodman’s turkey and sous-vided the breast meat separately. The large legs (thigh and drumstick) were roasted. Gravy was made with the carcass. I took charge of the red cabbage and ‘pigs in blankets’ which are small sausages wrapped up in streaky bacon. It was so busy I did not manage to take any photos but here is an idea of what our Christmas lunch usually looks like, as we almost always make the same accompaniments.
The turkey breast was sous-vided overnight then pan-fried to simply crisp up the skin, resulting in very moist and tender meat
My Christmas Day turkey lunch (top) which I happily ate again on Boxing Day (below)
The weather in London as I write is wild, disruptive, troublesome. I had wanted to take a walk around Fortnum and Mason’s but the roads around Central London are closed off to traffic, and I could not face taking the tube with rude and aimless tourists (don’t get me started) and the rain soaking my shopping. Fortunately the clever Mr Gochugaru noticed that Le Creuset has opened a shop in Hampstead and so I’ll head there after lunch to do some light shopping.
Finally, the most important thing I want to say at the start of this new year is that most likely you cannot be replaced. Every physical thing in your universe can probably be replaced by an equivalent or something very similar. But you are a unique individual and to those who love and depend on you, you are irreplaceable. If you have not done so, this year make it a priority to have a complete health check and address any issues. So often we simply go on with our daily lives and forget that, like that old peeler in my kitchen drawer, we need to be sharper to function properly. What does it take to make you sharper mentally, physically, spiritually and financially? Now is a good time to start considering and making the necessary changes.
PS: message from the Turkey Boys on their way of cooking the Christmas turkey.
Breast meat
Remove the breasts from the whole turkey.
Liberally salt the skin.
Place the turkey breasts in a bag and vacuum seal.
Sous vide for 18 hours at 55 C.
After the requisite time, remove the bags from the water bath and use immediately, or cool in an ice bath to use later.
To finish off, fry in a pan to crisp the skin before serving in thick slices.
Legs/wings
Remove the legs and wings from the whole turkey.
Place in a roasting pan and rub over a little olive oil.
Liberally salt the skin, and sprinkle over some finely chopped herbs (rosemary and thyme are good).
Add some whole unpeeled cloves of garlic into the pan.
Roast the legs at whatever temperature the oven needs to be for the vegetables. As a rough guide, roasting at 180 C fan would take around 1½ hours. Cover the pan loosely with aluminium foil after an hour if the legs look like they are browning too much.
To check if the legs are cooked, use a meat thermometer and remove the legs from the oven when the internal temperature has reached between 75 c and 80 C.
Rest the meat for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
