Good Food Comes To Those Who Wait

Quick and easy might be the go-to techniques of our times, but a veteran chef and traveller explains why slow cooking using fresh local seasonal produce is a tradition to be savoured

- Michael Swamy

Life was once built around what one ate. People's lifestyles were determined by the food grown in a region, which in turn was determined by its geography. Fruits, vegetables, condiments, spices, and grains available in a market often depended entirely on the season and the location. Vegetables were scarce in seaside towns but there was enough seafood and a profusion of coconuts for sustenance. Riverside town markets teemed with green leafy vegetables and rice grew in the rich soil along riverbanks. Mountain towns, on the other hand, barely had saltwater fish or fresh coconuts, but sufficient grains, root vegetables, and squashes.

Waiting for a certain season in order to enjoy its bounty was an integral part of our living. Recipes were created around seasonal produce and our physicality reflected what we ate. Some of us had great skin, others, strong bones or sharp eyesight.

Then came the instant-gratification age which transformed eating habits. Government policies for agriculture, technological advancement in food production, better roads and transport facilities, and popular media eased access into other places and cultures. Before one even knew it, the way food was perceived by all generations changed. Where once we found a simple joy in enjoying seasonal ingredients at certain times of the year, now anything could be eaten anywhere, any time of the year.