The Story
I love doctors but I hate their medicines. I strongly believe food has healing powers. Nutrition is the great medicine and foundation of health,strength and happiness for both mind and body. After all, we are what we eat.
I started to explore cooking more after my first born's weaning. To me, cooking is an arty healthy craft that always brings you home. I always love quick, delicious, and nutritious meal. The best part of it is when both my sons and I explore the tastes, textures, colours, smell and feel that are appetising and appealing to all of our senses. Of course, my kitchen gets messy and dirty when I have curious little hands around but that is the greatest pleasure- we always have lots of fun and we don't mind cleaning up. My sons once were babies, then toddlers, now boys, very soon the time will take them to teen and adulthood. So, every stage and every little moment is precious. I will not remember my dirty kitchen but when I grow old and they grow to be a man, I will remember the moments and the satisfaction that I have fed their mind and body well and then at that time, I reckon that they can feed themselves healthy too.
It;s easy to get drifted away when I talk about my sons, now back to what I was writing- As a mum, who is always occupied, spending too much time cooking exhaust me. Yet, I do not want to compromise in serving my little family a fine meal. I opted to cook quick and easy hearty meals and it works. As someone who loves writing and has been a broadcast journalist for over a decade, I wanted to share my knowledge, perspective and happiness in a bowl . Thus, the name Quick Nosh.
Quick Nosh is a space to discuss food, diet, heritage and recipes. Modern days' lifestyle has changed our eating habits and patterns. I miss my mum's food, my maami's (I grew up showered with all her care and love- she is my family's guardian angel; my parent's neighbour) simple yet healthy cooking and my grandmother's wonderful meals (all three of them have passed away but their memories will remain). Since married and started living in London, I began to explore the authentic Tamil food and traditional flavours that my ancestors have practised.
The Tamil traditional food, parambariya unavu,is all about balance. I remember, when growing up my grandmother used to say, food is medicine and medicine is food. She did live it by eating good health food without any preservatives, artificial colouring, pre-packed, pre-cooked, frozen or genetically modified produce. Looking at her and my father, I believe a wholesome and well-balanced diet (including other factors like exercise) is the foundation of health, strength and happiness to both mind and body and longevity.
The parambariya unavu consist of nourishing and purifying food. my paati (grandmother in Tamil) always perceive food as a bliss. She stood by her principle that our diet should be such that new disease cannot manifest and existing disease is alleviated. Taste is 6-sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. A full meal she said should include all 6 tastes to properly satisfy the body and mind.
As I explore the ancestor's culinary practices, Quick Nosh, will also have my birth country, Malaysia's flavours of Indian, Chinese, and Malay Cuisines. My husband is a Sri Lankan -Argentinian. So, most of the time, we have Sri Lankan food and Argentinian dishes that never failed to amuse my taste-buds. Now that I live in the United Kingdom, a country that is even more diversified than Malaysia, I am exposed to more authentic choices from variety of English Teas to puds and pies, fish and chips, curries and briyanis, meze and kofta, paellas and pastas... the list is endless. As longs as it's quick and healthy- we will have it on Quick Nosh.
So, welcome to the new look of my food-blog, Quick Nosh. Let's explore the world and celebrate the intangible heritage through food and cherish every culture and human being. Keep the essential ingredients on hand and in mind. You can combine them in creative ways to yield deliciously quick and healthy meals.
P/s: If you have little ones, then roll your sleeves together, tie-up your aprons and rollick with the ware and ingredients to create the magic in your kitchen.
Bon Appetit!
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