Weekend review: the good, bad and indifferent

Good: Spying the Emily McPherson Collection of antique cookbooks in the RMIT library, The Alderman, Rumi – pumpkin, rice and cauliflower dishes, the Significant Eaters Saturday night vegetarian bake, Beryl’s sparkles and wonderful smoked trout salad at Babka, I-can’t-fit-another-mouthful vego big breakfast at Black Ruby, great company, watching DVD's by candlight on the new laptop when we came home to a power outage, rain on Friday, a cool night for sleeping on Sunday.

Indifferent: Fish kebabs at Rumi – great tahini dressing but the fish could have been a lot better.

Bad: Wet jeans and feet dampening a great night out, the acoustics at Rumi, neighbours arguing in the dark til at least 3 am again (I always want to put my head out the window and scream “Just leave the arrogant bastard and then we can all get some sleep!”), the fridge door beeping at 5.30 am when the power came back on.

How was your weekend?

Emotionally satisfying

The very nice brunch at Rumi arrived – some spiced rice (different to the apricot and almond on the menu), warm beans in thick tahini, pickled vegetables and olives, supplemented with warm flat breads and some yoghurt. A few mouthfuls in, though I appreciated what I was eating I just new it wasn’t going to hit the spot. “This is lovely”, I said to the Significant Eater “but I know it’s not going to emotionally satisfy me”.



I didn’t know what my body wanted. There was a flavour missing, perhaps heat or acridness, maybe a texture – just something that I couldn’t put my finger on. What ever it was, it wasn’t there.

Foods that warm our soul are individual and varied. Some bound to memory, others triggering happy chemicals that will circulate through every cell in the body. Once home, none the wiser to what I was seeking I began to list the known food that truly satisfy me:

Potatoes – almost any way (though just plain boiled is a waste). I once did an emotional eating survey and it surprised me that the humble spud topped my list. I can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then sneak a little leftover as a snack. But now I’ve trained myself to go for weeks without eating them.

Chocolate – a bit too obvious but even when full to the brim, I usually find a hidden spot known as my “chocolate stomach” where there is always room for one more morsel of the best, darkest chocolate.

Rice – perhaps with less potatoes in my daily diet this one snuck in under the radar. I’ll often have rice at lunch when I am working in the city – in sushi or a variety of ‘don’ Japanese dishes, with tofu and lashings of peanut sauce or basmati with Sri Lankan curries.

Oats – a hot bowl of porridge with a smidge of something sweet on a cold morning.

Coffee – addiction or true satisfaction? That first crema laden mouthful is almost enough for me.

My mum’s chocolate mousse – even more tempting now I’ve cracked the recipe!

Spaghetti marinara – although I could easily let myself become the Queen of Stodge I have pasta infrequently but a well made, usually oil based with lashings of garlic, marinara is like a siren call on a traditional Italian menu. Similarly, a well executed pad thai with prawn can hit exactly the same spot.


When it's not about outright nourishment, what hits your spot?