Well over a decade ago I attended a seminar led by Dr Karl Morris the eminent sports physiologist. The purpose was gaining focus in sport and not have too many preconceived ideas when participating. My sport of choice was golf, and as most club golfers there is always one aspect of your game that is on fire, whilst one or more are shockingly bad. Trying to find the happy medium begins with the mind, then remembering the body (position, grip etc) and finally, rhythm. The irony is many will play a bad shot, then tell you what they did wrong, try gain, and hit a blinder. So, what causes this? According to the good doctor it is negative imagery. Basically you foresee the shot and dangers and play to that. It’s like watching a video in your head. Simply put instead of watching “Titanic” you watch something with a happy ending.

When it comes to rhythm, my pro, Darren Griffiths, believed you should approach the ball only when you were positively committed to the shot then start the mental soundtrack. Something in 4/4 time and a medium tempo. Mine was Queen’s “Under Pressure” – the bass line at the start… the boom booms. Address, back swing, down swing, and follow through. A rhythmic approach yielding equal effort in the 4 elements of the swing, and also removing as much fear, eagerness, or rank stupidity (brute force) from the process.

How does this training impact upon my cooking or even daily living? Since my mobility has been decimated due to arthritic pain, I find myself looking at a task and akin to some old school drill Sargent Major barking “1,2,3,4 … 1,2,3,4”. The greater the struggle, the louder my inner voice becomes and that transforms into an outer voice. Frustrating for those around me, furthermore extremely annoying for me.

So lets turn this negative upside down and see what good can come from this very destructive practise.

When scratch cooking anything that has a sauce (from Bolognese, chilli, curry), the four step heightens from bland to orgasmic. This doesn’t happen when you throw everything into a slow cooker and hope for the best. It doesn’t take hours, if truth be told its minutes, from 45 to 60; but the flavours are immense.

The Four Elements

1. Onions
2. Spices
3. Protein
4. Liquid

Onions

Whether a curry or casserole, onions are a main player. Often overlooked as such an important ingredient. Finely or coarsely chopped they need to be cooked first until softened for stews, pasta etc, or browned for Asian cooking. Cooked with oil but sparingly. If the pan is dry, adding water in small amounts is the key.

Spices

These will need to be cooked out. All the TV chefs say it but do we really understand what that means? Spices and herbs need to be cooked in order to release their flavours. When you have decided upon the dish and the ingredients from the spice/herb rack you then can experiment with what works. But how do you tell when cooked? When you see a film of oil reaching the surface of your onions, simple!

Protein

Whether meat or plant based, this when you add that important ingredient. With pasta dishes you can pre-brown in a separate pan then add to the flavoured onion base. Combining the onions will transfer the flavours to the protein and takes minutes to achieve.

Liquid

Finally the liquid. Tomato, stock, cream, wine – you name it, now is the time to add. Reducing the heat and allowing for simmering time.

That is it. Taking the time to plan and execute without resorting to hours of work or adding shop bought instant sauces. You are in control of elements such as salt, sugar, and additives that extend a shelf-life but not the taste.

Enjoy and let me know how you get on. A xx