When the pleasure of feeding others turns to panic, KENDALL HILL heads back into the kitchen to face his fears.
If there is such a thing as late-onset entertaining paralysis, I’ve got it. I can’t remember the last time I made dinner for friends. And yet I used to be quite the cook. I don’t know what’s come over me.
In a previous life, I constructed towering, glorious croquembouches from scratch, wrestled turduckens at Christmas, planned elaborate Indian feasts and once spent an entire day reducing a kilo of tomatoes to an intense, clear essence that I cut with gin and called a Martini. Garnished with a tiny skewer of grilled saganaki cheese, it made a killer opening salvo to a multi-course debauch.
Now my catering barely goes beyond making (rather good) pasta for one, my dinner of choice at home. I will happily commandeer a barbecue at social events, but that’s been the limit of my social cooking for a decade.
The Booker Prize-winning author and avid cook Julian Barnes says the motivation to feed others should stem from pleasure: “That of anticipation, as you plan and shop and cook; that of the act itself, as you eat among friends; afterwards, that of contented, not too self-congratulatory remembering.
“But how rarely it turns out to be like this,” he writes in The Pedant in the Kitchen. “All too often, high anxiety destroys the pleasures of anticipation… ”
I couldn’t have put it better myself. At some point the pleasure I got from feeding others was overcome by panic. The prospect of entertaining now petrifies me.
This story is from the December 2018 edition of Gourmet Traveller.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 2018 edition of Gourmet Traveller.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Barossa Valley
We hit the road for a weekend escape, exploring the best regional Australia has to offer. This month we head to the Barossa Valley in South Australia.
Legends of reinvention
As ultra-luxe hotel group Rosewood takes on three benchmark New Zealand lodges, MICHAEL HARDEN gets the read on this next chapter.
EVERYDAY
Easy entertaining, weeknight dinners and suppers to share, all made with speed, without sacrificing flavour.
Australia's most wanted
For love or money, building a wine collection pays dividends. NED GOODWIN reveals the Australian fine wines to put away.
MEET THE MAKER GREG LAMBRECHT
When US-based engineer Greg Lambrecht invented wine preservation system Coravin a decade ago, he changed the way we drink premium wine.
SANDALFORD
Following its recent reboot, this historic WA winery restaurant is ready to wine and dine a new generation of guests, writes MAX VEENHUYZEN.
PITZI
The team behind Fico trot out a chic new pasta bar which makes simplicity something special, writes ALIX DAVIS.
BATHERS' PAVILION RESTAURANT
A new era is dawning at a lower north shore landmark, writes MATTY HIRSCH, with an astute new recruit leading the way
VUE DE MONDE
A Melbourne icon emerges from a makeover refreshed and energised, writes MICHAEL HARDEN.
STEPHANIE ALEXANDER
Kylie Kwong celebrates the individuals helping to grow a stronger community. This month, we meet chef, author and original cook's companion, Stephanie Alexander AO.