My love-love relationship with country cooking

I have always had a love-love relationship with the good ol’ country cooking. My mother-in-law is a great country cook, and most things she cooks are as ‘exotic’ to me as Asian food is to her. For instance, her ‘goulash’ consists of chopped meat stewed in gravy, and if she feels extra ‘kinky’, she would throw in a couple of bay leaves. My goulash with hot paprika would prove to be too much on the exotic side for her pallet. I especially love her roast pork with mash potato. It is comforting to have a gigantic plant of meat and potato covered in a rich 80%-fat gravy-while your waist line is secretly cursing you out, your heart knows that you are very much loved.  

While most people would say country cooking is comforting because their mother used to cook that way. Well, growing up in a Chinese family with a mother who can’t cook to save her life, I am not in a position to say that. While I cannot say that country cooking reminds me of home, I can say that it reminds me of love and simplicity of the country lifestyle. Country cuisine is also comforting for someone like me with a larger-than-life appetite. Sometimes the only thing that can make me feel better is a juicy pork roast with hearty potatoes and bouncy peas-all 800 grams of them! The pork might not be seasoned with exotic spices, the potatoes might not be mashed with cream and organic butter, and the only fibre you find on the plate might be a couple of overcooked peas, dwarfed by the size of the roast and the all-mighty pile of mash potato, but you find tremendous comfort in knowing that you will feel fed, and that you don’t have to worry about food for the coming days, as there will be enough leftovers to feed an army. Just when you think you have reached your monthly red meat quota in one meal, you are served the leftover stew on toast the next morning for breakfast. Whenever I visit my mother-in-law, I constantly find myself in a ‘should-I, should-I-not’ situation. My health-conscious mind is constantly at odds with my greedy stomach, and most of the time, the smell of her stew or roast ends up too powerful for the mind to resist. So, during this festive season, enjoy your fat-dripping pork roast and leave all the dieting till next year!