Taste and Critique

Do you ever get the feeling that we as a nation have turned into a country of food critiques. The funny thing is ,we think we can taste. However on the flip side, the cooking of evening meals is down and convenience is up. In order to understand taste we must understand food; and to do that we have to spend time in the kitchen. Our high spec kitchens which remain immaclately clean with our top of the range "Rangemasters", are crying out to be ignited! Food and cooking must become an important part of our daily life and routine. As a nation we love buying the lastest cookbook, watching all the cookery shows, and talking about it. Hence we feel that we can go to any restaurant and start mentally writing about it!!. In my eyes if we want to qualify as food critiques we must enjoy one home cooked meal each day, and develop an understanding for the food we are cooking, we must love and wallow in the experience of cooking as if it where for the first time. Shopping for food must be the same, frequenting the butcher, veggie shop or farmer's market. There is no excuse we all have access to one of these. Saying that, Lidl is simply fab for fruit and veg! Whilst shopping, carefully choosing purchases and planing a meal around whats available, cooking whats in season and not what we fancy. The pleasure is fantastic. One glass of wine each evening wouldn't go amiss either! (spend more on a decent bottle and run if for 3 days). We all work so hard and have such little time; a daily food and wine luxury has to be good fo one! Taste is a wonderful experience.