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04/09/2006: "discover the recipes you are using and abandon them."
I've been going through reams of old Eno interviews and writings and picking out every reference to cooking. Why? Don't ask. Noticed: a definite tendency for making improvisational, intensely flavored (but not terribly spicy) dishes with odd combinations of ethnic ingredients, with a blatant disregard for recipes or notions of authenticity. Gobs of garlic. Lots of rice. A consistent use of thick Asian sauces, particularly black bean sauce and oyster sauce, in non-Asian dishes. Mixing oyster sauce with balsamic vinegar! Continuous references to eating rich truffle-based dishes, especially truffle risotto, with U2 and being nonplussed. An odd risotto recipe of Eno's which involves non-arborio rice, and the use of a rice cooker (?!) instead of the traditional constant-stirring technique. Drop scones made with "cinnamon, peanut butter, vanilla, pumpkin seeds, sultanas, poppy seeds." His appropriation of African culinary ideas into his cooking is a little too Laswell for me--a "West African composite with roast chicken and peanut butter sauce" sounds a little dull to be honest. His famous quote "I'm starting to think that all the world's problems could be solved with either oyster sauce or backing vocals" is a good one. But if it was up to me, I would rewrite it into "I am starting to think that all the world's problems could be solved with either crunchy peanut butter or a disco beat."
