Why do markets look better in pictures?

 

Sous Chef flips Saturday morning pancakes

Reading great food blogs like Not Quite Nigella, I realise I’ve got to up my game even to call myself a food blogger. First up is to take more pictures. It’s one thing to write about a recipe but it’s 100 times better to see a picture, I know.

 

But reading NQN’s post on London’s Borough Markets got me wondering: why do I breeze round markets, often buying nothing, but when I see pictures, I think, “Wow! That looks amazing. I wish I were there. God, I’d have bought everything in sight.” NQN’s butter picture put me over the edge. I’d walk right past a big slab of butter in a market but I gazed at her picture of artisanal butter longingly for some time.

It’s probably got something to do with the price. Sitting at my computer, I don’t have to wrestle with whether to spend $20 on cake of butter or $50 on a handful of cheeses.

Brining – the verdict

I’m never going back to an un-brined steak if I can help it. My steak was about 20% thicker; and jucier by a quantum leap than Herself’s. It was, however, a touch too salty even for me so I’m going to tone down Rhulman’s brine — I’ll try half the salt for a comparison.

Sadly I couldn’t taste the chilli at all so I’m going to ramp that up as the salt goes down.