Foodie

I do love food, I must admit. Both eating and cooking it. All the different recipes, ingredients, flavours, colours, smells etc. Mwah. And it is an art form in itself. I have a food blog still at Padaek.com that I started in 2013 and have thought about revisiting and working on it again with new recipes and posts as a side project. But honestly, it does take a lot of time and work for me (like everything else for everybody else I guess) which means less time for me to focus on my art. I will continue to keep it aside for now and put full attention and effort on my visual arts practice and art making. I do believe that if you want to become very good at something, you have to focus on it and give it 100%.

A lesson to myself here is to focus on the one thing/project at a time. The rule of One. I have a dreadful/horrible habit of trying to do too much/too many different things at once and not completing the work. When we have too many interests or things/distractions going on and to worry about or work on e.g. paintings and new ideas, it can become overwhelming and difficult to manage and complete/finish, leading to stress/worry, procrastination, mess, waste and bad time management etc. So I think I’ll just stick to this one website and blog here on Ngeun.com for now. Less is more/best.

I do enjoy cooking most days (without the fuss of having to document or write about it). And I continue to enjoy learning and discovering new things in the food world including different dishes, recipes and ingredients. There are staple comfort foods that I cook and we regularly enjoy including grilled/pan fried meats/chicken, soups/stews, steamed fish, fried rice, noodles, salads, wines etc. I sometimes cook big portions for the two of us (and some for Dove), with leftovers remaining that can be easily warmed up for following meals to save time.

I guess I enjoy most types of foods. And I’m open to try most new things. Food is a blessing/gift isn’t it? I especially enjoy Asian foods and spicy foods and dishes I haven’t tried before. I’m quite adventurous like that. Atm, I love Lao spicy salads (tum som) with meats and rice/noodle. It’s such a classic comfort food combination for me and I often crave it especially with fried chook. And chilli oil. I love chilli oil. Chillies in general really. I enjoy having chilli oil (and pepper) with most meals. Especially drizzled on top of rice/pasta soups e.g. Incredible. It is an addiction I guess. Oh well, we all have something to work on. My partner doesn’t handle extreme spicy foods as well so I omit/reduce the spice or make a mild alternative. Actually, I have to monitor my chilli intake and general health too, especially at my/our age now when the machine is starting to age a little and show signs of wear and tear (and if I want to pursue and achieve all of my dreams and goals and do all the things that I want to do). Food is fuel.

I’ve observed that my cooking and art making/painting process/practice is intrinsically linked. I see many similarities in the two. When I paint, the use of my hands and techniques, my choice of colours/products, my ideas and influences often mirror when I cook. It’s as if I’m cooking/preparing my artworks/paintings as a meal/dish when I paint sometimes. (Especially since I’ve been working with the canvas/board horizontal on a table.)

Both cooking and art making/painting are processes of creativity and creation. And with wonderful results. Cooking is a fascinating and delicious art form/medium. It’s ancient and rooted with histories and stories. You can taste/experience the love, stories and symbolism in a dish/meal. Often made with love and effort, customised/adapted by the cook. And you can see/experience something similar with an artwork/painting. (Though my current abstract painting practice doesn’t really follow recipes as such [though I have developed a method/process], and involves experimentation, intuition, flow, chance and faith in the creation process. This can be applied to cooking too I guess. I’ve certainly been creative/experimental/inventive in my fridge/cupboard shake recipes/dishes several times lol.) With abstract painting, you often don’t know what you’re going to get. Lots of love.