The first time I made red curry, I worked a significant mount of brow sweat into my dish. Using the traditional method of grinding herbs and spices with a mortar and pestle, like toasted coriander and lemon grass, I was able to produce a delicious and aromatic curry paste. The flavors were dynamic and bright, with an almost chewy texture. As I enjoyed a hot bowl of red curry, I tried to think of ways to speed up the process for next time.
So machines, and kitchen power tools, do make our lives easier, but not necessarily more delicious. I took a spice grinder to my next curry production, cutting the time, and sweat, in half. But I also cut the flavor. Ouch. My machine-aided-paste was flat, smooth, and lacked character. It's like the difference between mom's chocolate chip cookies, roughly shaped and slightly burned, and Chips Ahoy. My paste might have had a giant glacier of garlic floating around or leftover fibrous ginger rafts, but it was down-home good.
Lesson learned. Join me for red curry sometime, and know that I busted ass to whop those fresh ingredients into something wonderful.
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