Ek is nooit presies seker wat ander mense met hul vrye tyd en disposable income doen nie – ek stel myself naweke voor vol ontmoetings met opwindende vreemdelinge, partytjies in ou parke en hoë hakke, onophoudelike pret. Hier is dinge meer eenvoudig, draai die wêreld om een as. ‘n Bak granate op ‘n eetkamertafel. ‘n Toebroodjie in die Amsterdamse Jordaan, met bokmelkkaas, heuning en dennepitjies. Porchetta.
Ons staan Saterdae 05h00 op om betyds by die Boeremark die beste skaapribbetjie en Franse pont l’eveque te vind, spandeer oggende in klein Chinese supermarkies tussen peking eende en bosse bok choi, rooster kastaiings en bak pavlovas.
In ‘n wêreld waar ons beheer het oor so min is kos ‘n konstante sekerheid – geen gekoopte sjokolademousse kan ooit by die tuisgemaakte drie-uur-voor-die-stoof weergawe kers vashou nie, en solank daar genoeg botter en kaas in ‘n dis is sal jou gaste dit altyd verorber.
Ons voer, en word gevoer.
Leuk.
Arcadia and Jvdh met at a birthday party in 2007. To the chagrin of the other guests they spent the rest of the evening talking exclusively to one another.
True to their irritatingly responsible natures they did not become lovers, but friends. A year of early morning Boeremark expeditions and endless arguments about postmodernism ensued. During this time they started Voer, and eventually stopped being in denial, and started making out in the kitchen.
Since the end of 2008 they have been living on two continents, while both complete their postgrad studies. They're working hard on being re-united in the future. Until then this is their shared dinner table.
Our approach to food remains simple. Arcadia cooks from her little 1950's kitchen, with crockery stacked on open shelves for easy access, one slender cabinet of larder staples. Jvh shares a kitchen with four others, but has the joy of a vegetable patch and a herb garden, a stash of alcohol in his wardrobe, and various spices, flours and bottles of marinated olives stacked on his book shelf.
We mostly eschew fancy gadgets. We do not own blow torches or cherry pitters, although Arcadia does own a jaffel pan, and is eying an ice-cream maker. We're not cooking because it's suddenly become trendy. This is what we do.
We are frugal by nature. We are also both postgrad students with limited budgets, and both of these factors have moulded our philosophy of good food. It includes the practical measures of buying good quality meat, diary and fresh produce from small, local farmers, greengrocers and butchers as much as possible, and being willing to shop in the dodgier ends of town, where the quality is still good but you don't have to pay for fancy trimmings and in vogue status, because there no one cares. We also try to make a lot of things ourselves – bread, cakes and charcuterie is a part of our life in a much larger way that it would have been if we had to buy everything we consume.
Arcadia is 'n 25-jarige skrywer en filmmaker wat woon in Arkadia, Pretoria. Sy het 'n besondere affiniteit vir peking duck, rugelach en haar ouma se vleispasteitjies.
Jvdh is 'n 28-jarige ingenieur wat tans woon in Engeland. Hy raak opgewonde oor gluten strands, kompleksiteitsteorie en obsene hoeveelhede suurlemoen.
