Herbes de Provence

OK, so the art of smoke pit barbeque - dungeon style cooking - has once again shown the world that Americans take a fancy to crap upon the palette! I didn't make this up, this "crap", as my bloke buddies from England alerted upon the facts. Did you ever see a British Cookbook? One night while sitting at a pub, several of us tried our best to draft one up along with a few drafts - pints - but there came about front and center only three recipes of interest. Yellow Matter Custard, Solomon Gundy and Spotted Dick. The cocktail waitress asked if the latter was a disease? So the cookbook design called for a whole lot of pages "Intentionally Left Blank", just like George Bush’s memoirs. Now the "Blokes" may be right on with their attitude towards American "dungeon" style cooking, as I have yet to come upon a brisket or rib that is edible unless one is famished. As it usually means over-cooked, over-smoked and over-spiced once good meat to the point it could be used as belt leather or patch up an Alaskan winter boot pock mocked with holes. Really, talk about judging a book by its cover. Rub, dry or wet, it usually finds a concoction made of so many different spices that it takes away the true worth behind the "spice of life". It is called variety, but apply sparingly or else - crap! And what is with those jerks on the "Food Network", those that try to judge other real "chefs"? Why judge for the better with tactics indulging in intimidation, belittling and it seems nothing constructive but down right nasty ridicule. Hey, you try making an edible dish with “stink” tofu. In actuality, I stopped watching the food gurus when some idiot - Food Detective Ted - started saying that MSG was OK! This guy probably couldn't even fix a decent peanut butter & jelly sandwich, unless MSG was allowed to be slobbered on between the nut and jam! And if good for you, this MSG stuff, why do so many restaurants still advertise that "NO MSG" is used in the cooking process? Maybe Ted had too much of the crap while growing up. What ever happened to worthwhile cooking shows, like Julia and Jacque, or good old Justin Williams, with a story behind every recipe. Now that was the true art of slow cooking! So I have taken a different approach to cooking, called singularity. Or in French, "Seule et Unique Herbe Cuisine". It means one spice at a time, to provide unadulterated individuality to flavor upon the spice of interest. See, Herbes de Provence is a historical concoction of garden spices that are collected after the harvest, wherein everything leftover from a summer's harvest is added together, stuff of fragrance that has not already been used to infuse good cooking. What I am talking about is true French cooking. Just look at how spices are abused in America? So this summer I set out to truly enjoy herbs on a solitary basis. I set out the earthen filled pots to grow basil, rosemary, thyme and sage. So as the summer sun allowed a harvest of a few choice leaflets or a fragrant stalk here and there, through a harvest that perpetuates over the season, it meant a one herb only cooking show and tell. Wow. This is it! Parsley, sage, rosemary and time, all have unique and undivided taste sensations, all by their lonely selves! So with a one-herb specialty – like the catch of the day – along with a dash of good quality sea salt and fresh cracked peppercorns, alas perfection. Hey, would you mix good wines together? It is no different a chaotic mess when a wannabe cook throws this, that and the kitchen sink together, in efforts to fool one's senses. And this "Seule et Unique Herbe Cuisine" makes for simple cooking. When you are enlightened to a meal with one and only one herb, it catches the attention. It makes you seek out the truth in this sensation, just like how good wine is enjoyed. It makes eating more of an experiment over that of just a stuffing habit. Rosemary by itself is so versatile, as is thyme and sage. Hey, maybe there is no reward in a Bloke Cookbook, but what about a cookbook on "Seule et Unique Herbe Cuisine"? So over the summer, I prepared the book. Sage only Chicken, Rosemary only Chicken..... It definitely excites the pallet. And when fall comes rushing down the mountains with termination dust close behind, it is time for the Herbes de Provance, all together now. It is great for Thanksgiving time cooking, as a summer’s past memory, but through experiment I am a firm believer in solo spice cooking. Now I had the cook book all ready for the debut, but somehow, just like over-cooked meat ruining things, there was not enough room on the shelves as some book called “Going Rogue” won out the Iron Fist Challenge - or whatever it is called. And this goes to show that this country continues to get wooed by crap, here then there and everywhere, abuse upon the palette and abuse upon what we have available to read. I guess it is all dungeon style cooking and drag-on style beauty queens, at the expense of our individuality! Herbes de Provence? I wonder what happens if it is rolled and smoked, as I need something to ease away the day’s pain, especially when the 1st Amendment becomes a punching bag!