Through the harsh experience of repetitious failure, I have finally learned not to make new year’s resolutions. Change is a slow process, and one that should be built up to over a few months rather than shocking your system with drastic measures in the first week of the year. Personally, I’m craving a slower, more balanced approach to work, life and food this year, and in that spirit I don’t want to rush into any unachievable resolutions.
In saying that, I do think the first few weeks of the year are a useful time to get things in order, purely because it’s likely you might have a bit more free time on your hands. You’re not partying at the insane level of December and, if you’re lucky, you might be off work for a few more days. January gives us all a bit of breathing space to think about last year and look ahead.
This time last year, New Jersey girl Andie Mitchell (andiemitchell.com) released her memoir It Was Me All Along, which went on to become a New York Times bestseller in 2015. It chronicles her weight loss and personal battle with emotional eating in a very kind manner. When she initially lost more than 100 pounds, she fell to the other extreme of eating disorders in the battle to remain thin. She worked hard to find a way of living and eating that really worked for her.
“I see how starkly black and white my beliefs had been . . . I recognise the pain of white-knuckling my way through life. I recognise the internal chaos of barrelling through life in bouts of mania and depression.
"The alternative, the middle ground, is balance," Mitchell writes. What I like about her story is this focus on balance. Her cookbook, expected in spring of 2016, is called Eating in the Middle: A Mostly Wholesome Cookbook, which I think sums up her philosophy.
Another cookbook that may help you start on the right foot in the kitchen in 2016 is the Cook's Illustrated's Kitchen Hacks: How Clever Cooks Get Things Done. Published in 2015, this illustrated handbook will help you get your kitchen in order with tips ranging from pitting an avocado with a corkscrew and the variety of ways to use a toothbrush in your kitchen, such as mushroom-cleaning. Find out more at kitchenhacksbook.com.
If you're getting your food subscriptions in order for the year, might I suggest getting on to the Lucky Peach way of thinking? This magazine, founded by David Chang of Momofuku in New York, has a gritty and fresh approach to food writing. They seek out the interesting, the adventurous and the inspiring in modern food around the world. Find them on luckypeach.com and have it delivered to your door.
Another cheeky little food magazine that you might like to get to know better is Root + Bone, a free London-based food publication with photography by bearded Dubliner Steve Ryan. You just have to pay the postage. For more, see rootandbone.co.uk.
My other essential subscription tip is for 3FE Coffee. You can have a bag of beans delivered to your door monthly, so that your grinder will never have an idle day in 2016. Choose between a tasting or drinking subscription. The first comes with tasting notes and brewing tips while the second is simply a bag of freshly roasted beans. Find out more at 3fe.com.
For inspiration, I'm already looking forward to the second instalment of Food On The Edge in Galway. Pioneered by Aniar chef patron and Irish Times writer JP McMahon, it brought together chefs from Ireland and around the world for a symposium to discuss the pressing matter of food today. After the success of its inaugural outing last October, early bird tickets are already on sale at €300 per person for its return in October 2016. Find out more at foodontheedge.ie.
The Kerrygold Ballymaloe Lit Fest also returns to Ballymaloe House in Shanagarry, Co Cork from May 20th to 22nd 2016. Keep an eye out for speakers, events and tickets on litfest.ie.
If I can swing it, I'd love to make it to MAD5, the symposium created by Rene Redzepi that was last held in Copenhagen in 2014. Tickets for the public were then priced at around €400, which included entry over the two-day festival plus breakfast, lunch, coffee and entry to the after-party dinner. You can sign up to the newsletter to keep updated on the location, date (expected to be late summer 2016) and tickets on madfeed.co.
So, what kind of year do you want your 2016 to be?
