A Surprise Find
It has been said many times on this blog, and it is so true, that without new information, new perspective, new stimulus or whatever you want to call it, new things can not be created. Innovation can not happen without making new connections. What better place to find inspiration for creating new things in the kitchen then an old cookbook. The past makes for a great platform from which to innovate. Whether it be cooking from an old tradition in a modern way or using our memories of food moments – a wedding, a picnic, a party – and remaking those foods in a new way, the past makes for great stimulus. In many ways, traditions are kept very much alive by innovation.
Cooking For Two – An Old Cookbook
What makes innovation exciting is that sometimes the inspiration surprises us by coming from unexpected places. Sometimes it appears when we least expect it. My copy of Cooking for Two was found at an estate sale. It is full of interesting and old recipes for a variety of different dishes, some familiar some not. It was however, the other items that got tucked inside the book that that were a big surprise.
In Cooking Inspiration Is Everywhere
Even unrelated inspiration can be useful in innovation
Inspiration Can Come From Anywhere
Tucked away in the back of the book was an old flyer for Sun Brand East Indian Chutneys, not sure how old, but it was certainly something that was unexpected. It includes some interesting recipes, too. The information in the flyer could certainly have been used to create new versions of any of the recipes in the book, or vice versa. Chutney could, after all, have added a great new way to enjoy dandelion greens!
Chutney+Dandelion Greens = Innovation
If the flyer is very old (there were other items in the book -more on those in a later post- marked from 1947 so it could be fairly old), it could have been something very new to its owner who was getting off the eaten path, so to speak. I often wonder who owned the book before me, how these two unlikely items came together and what innovations were created from them. The WOW moments could have been endless. Perhaps the owner was ahead of their time creating some of the first Indian-American fusion cuisine. Who knows?
Be on the look out for great stimulus in unexpected places, like the past. It can be put to good use creating WOW moments.
I am off to find some chutney!
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
Have you found inspiration in unexpected places or recreated meals from the past in a new or different way?Let us know all about it in the comments or on Facebook.
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