Hedonism, and all I gained from being a food blogger - not only weight!


For someone who claims to be a food blogger, I don't really talk about food, I think. My posts always seem to be about something other than food, really. I don't dig into the history of ingredients, or cooking methods, I don't research food and recipes thouroughly so I can talk about them with a real knowledge, I just play it by ear. I go, and see a picture of a dish, I ponder on it, I get ideas and I cook. I try mixing different flavours together, to see if it works for me. And when it does, I do it again.


I probably have the time to do all those things, thourough researches and studies, investigating the origins of certain dishes and ingredients, and it would probably enrich this blog, if I were to cite sources and studies, and go on and on about my food culture, had I any. But, as strange as this may seem, being a food blogger, I really don't have an interest in digging deep into the food culture and history. And, quite frankly, I do not have the time for it. I mean, if it were something I was interested in, I would find the time, I'm sure. It isn't. My day is pretty busy as it is, even though I don't have a job - by job I mean the work you do or service you provide in exchange for a salary.


Sure, it's fun to know - for me, at least! - random facts about this or that dish, this or that cooking method, this or that ingredient, but to be honest... my interest in food is purely hedonistic, as in so many things in my life. If it gives me pleasure, I will pursue it. If it bores me to death, I'll drop it. I like food because I like eating and drinking. I try to use moderation in both, but meals are all about hedonism for me. The way the tastebuds sing when food hits them, the scents and the depth of colours, the waking and arousing of the senses, it is a pleasure trip, it is a trip of sorts for me. Same as with my favourite wines. It's hedonism.


Much like blogging, actually. I blog for the pure hedonism of it. It is something that gives me pleasure. I get a high from writing posts and publishing them - just the word publishing sends shivers of joy down my spine, I mean, the fact that I get to publish what I write, what I cook, what I style and photograph, is there any bigger joy? I get an even bigger high from cooking and styling and photographing for my blog. It's hedonistic. It's all for the pleasure it gives me, the rush, the high. It's sort of like a drug, I think. With a real good trip, most of the times. Again, it's all down to hedonism.


Even when I get stupidly frustrated from not getting the recognition I *believe* I deserve, even when I get really angry at seeing that the pictures I had imagined did not come out the way I wanted them to, even when the statistics are low and I hardly have any comments at all, there is still a lot of pleasure I get out of it. Like recently, I opened up the statistics to find I had received nearly 300 visits in one day. I mean! 300 visits! I know there are a lot of blogs who get ten, a hundred times this number of visits a day, some of them ten, a hundred times far worse than mine, but still. This is a huge number for me. And it gave me a rush of pleasure seeing it.


And some of the most hedonistc pleasures I have gotten out of this blog have been the discovery of previously unknown ingredients. Before this blog I had never tried a blueberry, nor a gooseberry. I have, now, and I love them. I had also never tasted miso, or granola and now I know I really don't like those two. I became aware there was something called spelt flour which is really delicious, and buckwheat flour, which gives bread a gorgeous colour. I have made my aquaintance with chia seeds never to be made again, and with poppy seeds, to be repeated as often as I can. Poppy seeds are my new thing, you know. I'm kind of hooked on them. They kind of pop in your mouth, hedonistically speaking.


Blogging, and the pleasure I get out of it, have made me inventive in the kitchen, have made me inventive with a camera and with props - or the lack of! as I am always on such a tight budget - and have made me try new things, in every aspect. What's not to love about that? How could I not get a rush out of that? It has made me revisit old recipes and tweak them, trying out new pairings and new combos, like this old sponge cake which I have been glaming over for so long, adding all sorts of bits and pieces to what is really one of the simplest recipes in the world. This time round, I decided to use poppy seeds and mandarines in this cake. And to say it came out as if baked by angels, is not an overstatement. But then again, I am an hedonist at heart, and a fan of Angel as well...


So here's the recipe:
  • 150 gr flour
  • 150 gr sugar
  • 150 gr butter
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 3 eggs
  • zest and juice of one large mandarin
  • 1 tbsp poppy seeds
Turn on the oven at 180º and line a baking tin. Cream your butter with the sugar until pale, and then add the mandarin zest. Start adding the flour with the baking powder sieved into it, alternating it with the eggs, one by one. In the midst of it, add the mandarin juice. Make sure it is all mixed thouroughly and pour the batter into the tin. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the cake is cooked through. Allow to cool for ten minutes before taking it out of the tin, though it can be served still warm-ish. Enjoy!


Comments

  1. Que delicia amei a dica, bom final de semana.
    Blog: http://arrasandonobatomvermelho.blogspot.com.br/
    Canal:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apP6eHn5PlI

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  2. Eu quando entro num blog sobre comida, a coisa que mais me chateia é levar com explicações sobre cada ingrediente, nem que seja só um. Tal como tu, eu gosto de comer, gosto do prazer de cozinhar e partilhar isso com os outros. Se eu quiser saber sobre a receita e os respetivos ingredientes vou ao google, ele sabe quase tudo.

    beijinho
    www.blogasbolinhasamarelas.blogspot.pt

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  3. Um bolo bem húmido, comia com prazer agora uma fatia :)
    Beijinhos e bom fim de semana ...
    Guloso qb

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  4. F*ck, não podia concordar mais ctg! E acho q nc me ri tanto a ler um post teu. É bem verdade, blogging gets me high!!! O fotografar os produtos, o escrever, o editar as fotos, o até programar os shootings c a Diana...
    Qt às views, qualidade nem sempre (quase nunca) anda de mãos dadas com a quantidade. E tu escreves bem pa cacete e fotografas e cozinhas e opinas e não tens papas na língua e tens cultura. I belong to those 300!! 4ever!
    E esse bolinho c um leitinho de amendoa... upa upa

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    Replies
    1. Pronto, finalmente alguém que me entende, que é como uma trip boa, que realmente há assim uma cena que se nos sobe pelas veias acima, uma sensação brutal de bem estar e felicidade quando se está a tratar do blog... adoro isto, adoro poder fazer isto, a pena que eu tenho de nos anos noventa não haver disto, fogo, quando eu estava na faculdade precisava TANTO de um outlet deste tipo e não havia nada ahahahahah.

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    2. é pura verdade. o pior são as fases em que nã te apetece NADA. N t acontece? qd algo está mal na tua vida ou assim é logo "vou apagar o blog" a diana já nem liga qd digo isto lol

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    3. Apagar, apagar, não me dá muito para isso, mas sentir que nem vale a pena o esforço... muitas vezes, e não é preciso algo estar mal, népias, é aquela cena do trabalhares tanto, esforçares-te, dedicares-te e nunca jamais obteres qq tipo de resultados nem saíres da cepa torta, isso sim, acontece-me muito e há alturas em que tenho mm de fazer um bruto esforço em publicar alguma coisa aqui pois tudo me parece em vão...

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  5. Que maravilha! Ficava já com uma fatia :)
    Obrigada pela visita ao meu cantinhos e parabéns pelo blog fantástico!
    Bjs

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  6. Aaaah, como é doce aquele momento em que se carrega no botão "publicar"...a publicação até pode ser pouco vista, pouco comentada, pouco apreciada...mas um blog, quando é "à séria" é DE NÓS PARA NÓS, e é disso que me tenho vindo a aperceber, mais e mais...

    Quanto à comida, entendo-te, eu gosto é de inventar, divertir-me a fazer pratos que me apaixonem...e comer...por isso é que o teu blog é o único que sigo que se possa apelidar de "food blogger", porque falas dos pratos com paixão, com um teor prático e simultaneamente sonhador...

    beijinhos, Nádia
    My Fashion Insider

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  7. o interior desse bolo está divinal!
    e como te entendo relativamente ao prazer das nossas publicações; mesmo que por vezes o número das visitas não seja o mais aliciante/ desejado eu já só continuo o blog francamente por mim, porque eu preciso deste alento, incentivo e distração na minha vida.

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    Replies
    1. Toda a gente devia ter uma distração na vida, algo que fizessem por si, só por si e para si próprios. Confesso que a minha distração NÃO é o blog looool!

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  8. Esse bolo deve ser bem bom! Também ando meia com a panca das sementes de papoila e faço um bolo tipo esse mas com limão <3

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  9. Olá!
    Bem este bolo tem um aspeto para lá de divinal!! A cor é maravilhosa e dá mesmo vontade de provar!
    Eu gosto de aprender sobre os ingredientes e sobre as receitas, mas por outro lado confesso que sou um pouquinho preguiçosa de ir à procura, de ir investigar... mas mesmo que seja pelo puro prazer de cozinhar, comer e bloggar, manter o blog já é uma tarefa que me dá muita satisfação. E é como tu dizes, às vezes, mesmo sem se aprofundar muito, aprende-se imenso, e acabamos por descobrir ingredientes novos e novas formas de cozinhar! Esse tem sido se calhar a melhor valia de manter o blog.
    Beijocas grandes
    Marta

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    Replies
    1. concordo inteiramente, isso e o cruzar-me mesmo que só virtualmente com pessoas que me surpreendem e que me interessam!!

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