“In England, everyone’s favourite dish is Sunday roast. I still think it is one of the best dishes you can ever have because you’ve got your protein, an amazing selection of five or six vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, gravy, spices and sweetness. From the age of five-ish, I used to help my mum make a Sunday roast, together with my sisters and father… I’d be cutting onions, peeling carrots. Those are my fond memories of early cooking.
“The first meal I cooked was similar to a roast dinner. I took the reins and said, ‘Okay, mum, let me take over today. You sit down and I’m going into the kitchen.’ But, you see, mums have spent years organising their kitchens. When I did it, it was a mess. Every pot and pan was used; every plate was a mess; there was food everywhere – just trying to plate four or five dishes of food. And it took double the time to clean all of it! Within the family, people are very honest and critical. ‘The potatoes are a little burnt, Kirk’, or, ‘The gravy is a bit runny today’!
“My mum was a vegetarian, so we didn’t have roast beef, we had vegetables, nuts and fruits. I pretty much grew up vegetarian – it wasn’t really until I was a teenager that I started to be rebellious and eat sausages at school and, you know, eat the crap that a teenager would.
“But, my mum is a very good cook. And we were a traditional family – mum was in the kitchen and everyone else was watching TV or whatever. And so, I was always helping her. We used to have a little garden, which was nice. In summer especially, my sisters and I would pick strawberries, cucumbers and rhubarb, and maybe a couple of pears, potatoes, baby carrots and salad. From those fond memories stem this whole modern British direction of lots of nice ingredients and lots of vegetables and fruits running through.”
Jaan by Kirk Westaway is at 2 Stamford Road, Level 70.
LEE BOON SENG, IMBUE