A Man Chooses, A Slave Obeys
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 12:00PM Since I started sharing my culinary experiences, a year ago (this month), via www, I've been very apprehensive about repeating dishes. Don't think anyone wants reruns. I started to overcome this once I realized my core, and current, audience didn't jump onboard until halfway in. So I could go back and reuse material from 'classic' posts that no one read, other than my mom.
In August, something happened-- I made the same dish three times. I prepared a Mexican style braised pork for my UFC guests, then for myself, and then again for a HOA BBQ. The final time I tasted it, it was significantly better than the first. An interesting concept.
Growing up, I was in band for five years, and choir for eight. Never practiced once. I ran cross country for seven years, and never really ran on my own time. A genius I certainly was not, but nor was I amateur. This concept of practicing has never been one of my core competencies (could also explain various homework habits).
Could the first few executions of the pork dish been anything other than practice? What if I make it a fourth time? Besides, I need something new for the people. It's common we become slaves to what we do, what we love. I adored when Audioslave hit the music scene back in '03, because by name they were very upfront about this concept. Is it wrong for the mass of bloggers across the world to become slaves to their audiences? Not like we're getting paid, but we're often personally financing our practices.
This weekend, I was tasked with making some really great food for some really great people. Attendance didn't pan out as planned, but the bottom line still had to be the same. Because of this, I chose to repeat a dish I loved making once before. Not only have I made this before, but readers disliked it, moreso than usual. I'm talking about pig trotters.
