Making a platter is flirting with food.
I was 27 when I fell in love with making platters. In hindsight, I don't know why I didn't start sooner. I've always loved mixing different foods on a plate. Different colours, different textures. It was an adventure, but on my tongue. :)
It is not really a starter, nor is it a main course. It is a collection of simple, delicious little bites of food that somehow come together beautifully.
It is playful.
It is about tasting a little of this, a little of that. And honestly, it is even better when shared.
Over the years, my platter-making slowly evolved, mainly through the ingredients I used.I used to love cheese. I could almost eat it every day, especially when it was cut into little cubes, with different flavours. Sometimes, I would add the heavier, more special cheeses,
My usual go-to ingredients would be things like cheese, olives, nuts, dried fruit and whatever else I felt would work together. and at that point, the platter almost became a whole main course.
Then I made the conscious decision to eat fewer animal products.
At first, I thought:
Well… there goes my platter era.
Because in my mind, a platter was very much connected to cheese and sometimes dried meats. But if you love cooking, you understand the power of markets. And if you are a foodie, markets can honestly feel like the holy grail.
But give me a market with beautiful ingredients, different smells, colours, textures and little things I have never tried before, and my brain immediately starts creating.
So, by “accident”, I ended up at a small market across from NEMI.
It was tiny. Maybe six stalls. But apparently, six stalls were enough.
While walking around, I still had no intention of making a platter. I was just buying things that looked good to me.
And somehow, when I got home, all of those little choices started making sense together.
I did not buy everything at the market. I already had the Bimi broccoli at home, and I bought some other things along the way, too.
But when I finally put everything together and tasted it, I was genuinely so happy.
Because that was the moment I realised:
Making platters does not have to be limited to cheese and dried meat.
I can make my own version.
And that is exactly what I plan to do. This is actually the only platter like this I have made so far, but I already know there will be more.
And platters do not have to be savoury either.
A fruit platter can be just as beautiful. Different fruits, vibrant colours, flavours and textures coming together on one plate.
Such a playful way to enjoy fruit and add a little more colour to your day. :)
There is something so freeing about realising that you do not have to recreate something exactly the way you have always known it.
There is something so freeing about realising that you do not have to recreate something exactly the way you have always known it.
You can take the idea, keep the feeling and make it your own or just different.
And for me, that freedom to create according to my own taste is one of the best parts of cooking.
Signed with love,
Abigail
