Imaginary Menu of the Day

I lose all of my willpower when sweets and sugary confections are involved. I actually considered switching over to the patisserie program today after observing how proud our chef instructor was of her cakes and learning about how female-friendly the field is. However, I fast-forwarded to 6-10 years from now and simply couldn't see myself as an overweight pastry chef/owner of a pastry shop. Nothing can possibly come out of being surrounded by such temptations. At least as a commercial cook or chef I won't be tempted to nibble on the food here an there because it will most likely not be vegetarian friendly. Plus, the idea of having my own vegetarian restaurant where I can share with the general public how swanky and fun good vegetarian food can be is what keeps my head above water. Trust me, I've felt like letting myself sink many times in the past 2 and a half months. I'm not going to cookery school to become an executive chef in a 3 hat restaurant or to become a world-famous chef at that. One of Melbourne's (or whatever city I happen to be living in at the time) most well-known vegetarian chefs, perhaps, but I really just want to share my passion for vegetarian cuisine with the rest of the world and have a good time while doing it.

If I could be a professional party-thrower, get paid for it and serve only vegetarian food, that would be my dream job. I gave some serious thought to being a personal chef or a caterer, but in the end, the thought of being forced to offer meat-based dishes to be a successful business doesn't appeal to me at all.

I've been thinking a lot about Spain lately and my 3 glorious years there as an intern and uni student. I long to spend one of those fantastic boiling hot summers there doing something productive during the days and spending the nights sampling tapas and drinking tinto de verano or vodka con naranja in some plaza or hole-in-the-wall drinking establishment. In Spain, most restaurants offer a menú del día, which is a set menu that comes with an entree, a choice between 2 main plates, a dessert and a glass of wine. My vegetarian menú del día would be:

Entree: Pan seared cherry tomato & rocket pesto Crostini
Mains: Skewered Char-grilled Eggplant Rolls of herbed ricotta w/parsley-scented jasmine rice
OR Roast Pumpkin and Orzo Salad with a Paprika-Cream Dressing w/Mountain Bread
Dessert: Honey Roasted Figs with chilled vanilla bean cream
White: a glass of red or white house wine

Who knows if this menu would actually go well together, but it sounds good!