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Episode 106 - ADHD & Cooking. Dopermine Served With A Side Of Fun
30 Plays23 hours ago
Welcome to ADHDville! Your Weekly Dose of ADHD Chat & Chaos... and cooking tips?
Tired of podcasts that take ADHD too seriously? Grab a cuppa and get comfortable.
Hosts Paul and Martin welcome you to ADHDville, the podcast where the distractions, detours, and hyper-fixations are all part of the main road. We're here for real, relatable, and often hilarious conversations about living with an ADHD brain.
From the nightmare of meal planning to the joy of a perfect dopamine hit, no topic is off the table. We share our experiences, rate the dopamine vs. burnout factor of everyday tasks, and remind you to be kind to yourself.
If your brain is a busy, wonderful, and sometimes frustrating place, you're in the right village.
Hit subscribe and join the conversation!
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Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
Here we are, back in in the room. Here we are. yeah there ah And we hope that you at home ah have a nice cup of tea, ah maybe a snack, and that you're in the room with us. um yeah So let's go to a place where the distractions, the landmarks, and the detours are the main roads.
Welcome to ADHDville
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to the HDville. Let's go there. ADHDville. Let's go there. Everyone knows your name. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Thank you very much.
00:00:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:00:47
Speaker
But yeah, I know it it can be easy. It can be like, sound like, oh, we all say it like and subscribe, but please do. It makes a big difference. Please do now. Do it now. Please do.
00:00:59
Speaker
Like and subscribe. Do it. Come on. Okay.
Meet the Hosts: Paul and Martin
00:01:02
Speaker
Hello, I'm Paul Thompson, and I was diagnosed with the combined ADH and the D again two years ago. And I'm Martin Weston. I was diagnosed with the combined ADHD poo-poo platter in 2013. And we start off in the local pub in ADHDville, the King's Agitated Head, where we, the ex-mayors of ADHDville, take care of business.
Theme Introduction: Cooking Adventures
00:01:24
Speaker
And this week we're going to be talking about cooking and cooking habits. Stuff around cooking. Yes, stuff around cooking. And um I think we're going to go to the farm, I think, to have a little bit of a natter about that, a chin wag.
00:01:41
Speaker
ah Oh, you know, farm these we going to table. You could say we're going to chew the cud at the farm. Let's go and chew the cud. Let's jump in like a spring lamb into the tractor and make our way to the farm. Oh. The farm.
00:02:00
Speaker
The farm.
00:02:10
Speaker
Yes.
Structuring Chaotic Cooking Conversations
00:02:11
Speaker
yes so So in this episode, I'm actually kind of up given responsibility for giving form and and and and structure to the the conversation, which usually usually chaos ensues at this point.
00:02:26
Speaker
Right. But I've got a bit of a bit of structure. I've got like kind of breaking it down, you know, ah cooking and, you know, cooking time pretty much broken down to habitual behavioral stuff.
00:02:40
Speaker
They were going to go into like ah the kind of accessories. They were going to go a little bit into the sensory part of cooking, as they say in Stoke, in the midlands cooking, the social aspect.
00:02:56
Speaker
And then hypervigilant security. So let's start with some basics. I'm going to start off, right, cooking.
00:03:07
Speaker
It's almost like it's starting from taking a step backwards. Actually, the prepping part, when you actually go... Two, it can be a joy or it can be a nightmare.
00:03:20
Speaker
If depending on how you actually, where you go and your, your ingredients, you kind of like, okay, you're thinking, okay, I want to cook
Supermarket Struggles
00:03:28
Speaker
tonight. Something nice, something nice for my partner, something nice or for your family, your friends, your mates, right?
00:03:36
Speaker
Yes. I frozen pizza, frozen pizza. For instance, I, I hate supermarkets. Frozen pizza, yeah. Yeah. I hate supermarkets.
00:03:48
Speaker
They leave me with a kind of feeling I come out of a supermarket and I'm feeling chap-fallen.
00:03:57
Speaker
Cheerless. Chapfallen. It's an old-fashioned way of saying flat and downcast. Chapfallen. Cheerless. Woe-be-gone. ah Generally beset with melancholy.
00:04:11
Speaker
Woe-be-gone. Yes. Are you going to some sort of vi victor vi some sort Victorian supermarket? Yes. i who ah feel melancholy. love those words.
00:04:26
Speaker
I think it's linked to the fact that I haven't lived in my own country and I ah live in Italy and speak Italian and I've developed a a real fascination for my own language.
Joy of Ingredient Collecting
00:04:39
Speaker
So this is just ah something really enjoy doing. Anyway. So go back to what saying before, the the joy that can be had actually from gathering your ingredients in a really, really nice way.
00:04:55
Speaker
Go to the good butcher, get his advice, go to the, um, the guy, you know, that go to work the, um, the gas gastronomy, you know, get, you know, get your nice cheeses, have a conversation.
00:05:10
Speaker
What do you recommend? You know, um Get their advice. If you go to the butcher, say, look, mate, I want a really good lasagna.
00:05:20
Speaker
What do you suggest? want a sausage. I want a sausage, mate. You want a sausage lasagna? You want a sausage lasagna? Do you? Do you, sir? Do you?
00:05:34
Speaker
It suits you, sir. because the So that's yeah something on something I learned living in Palermo, the joy of of going to these different places.
00:05:44
Speaker
The baker, you know, developing relationship with him or her. Love doing that.
00:05:52
Speaker
Right, because when I was a kid, when we used to go shopping for food in the high street, the main street, in the high street main street um We would go to the ah go to the grocery store and we'd go to the butchers.
00:06:09
Speaker
So we would visit like, i don't know, four or five different stores. um And you know what? It's it's just reminded me of a story that my mum told me about about the about the the the um vegetable, fruit and veg store in my High Street.
Bizarre Fruit Store Incident
00:06:33
Speaker
Right. um And we were, my mum was quite chatty. As you say, she went in, she chatted with the woman there who sold the fruit and the veg and they'd give me the bananas that were overripe.
00:06:50
Speaker
Yeah. And then years later, my mum tells me that the woman... in that store, ah offered to have a wife swap session yeah we with with my mum and my dad.
00:07:09
Speaker
No. and And that explains why we never went back to that store again. Blimey. often wondered why. Bananas were never worse than...
00:07:21
Speaker
So but when you are in the store and you get chatting, right just don't get too friendly, I guess. That would be my thing. don't get right Don't get too friendly. I've got story. Crazy story.
00:07:35
Speaker
That segues quite natterly, neatly from that. After years of living, you remember we used to live close to each other in Redhill, okay? Yeah.
00:07:49
Speaker
yeah I planted, when I moved into the house, you were already living there, I think. I moved to a house that was lo around the corner.
Pampas Grass Misunderstanding
00:07:59
Speaker
I planted pampas grass, right, in the front garden.
00:08:04
Speaker
yeah And our our friend Katie, this was about three years later, said, Paul... ah where Do when you plant pampas grass in the front of your garden in England, it means that this house is where you can actually swap partners?
00:08:23
Speaker
It was a code. Plant pampas grass in your front garden. Code for this house is officially a partner swapping house.
00:08:35
Speaker
I said, what are you talking about? Yeah. But ah since now I found out it's true. it's It's actually not just in Redhill. It's oh anywhere in England. You could be in Barnsley. If you've got pampas grass growing in your you in your front front garden, it means you you like to swap. You're up for it.
00:08:56
Speaker
Get up for it. That sounds nuts. All right. Back on subject. Let's let's just get subject. it's um Other things. So what well yeah how are you on supermarkets, Martin?
00:09:09
Speaker
Tell us.
Grocery Shopping: Online vs. Offline
00:09:10
Speaker
Tell us more. Well, okay. All right. So I think, you know, like this fits for me in the subject of, Cooking, as we're talking about it, yeah is a whole bunch of different steps, right? And you have like like like me, some of it you enjoy, some of it you you you don't. So yeah so i don't think that there's ah necessarily an overall I like cooking or I don't like cooking. this just Because it's all so many steps. So one of those steps is, like as you say, you you have to...
00:09:43
Speaker
um Well, after you finish, after you finish planning, which, which I hate food planning, that that's the fucking worst. um And then you kind of go, right, I need all these things. And then you go out to the super markets.
00:09:58
Speaker
Now I don't do that. So I, I, ah all that food is ordered online and then I go and pick it up we go and drive there and I,
00:10:11
Speaker
and And I park in the special parking space and then someone comes out and then they just dump all the bags in the back of my car and I drive off. Is this special parking space just for for you?
00:10:23
Speaker
it got like a picture of you? Like an icon of Martin? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's me. Yeah. With my name. And then there's a, there is always a guy standing there just making sure that no one else ah uses it.
00:10:38
Speaker
That's good. Um, That's good. So, is he and then, yeah, I will kind of go into other specialty stores from time time to time. But yeah, I find, I, just prefer it that way.
00:10:55
Speaker
So it's just easier. Yeah. and but There are just some downsides because you can't pick fruit and veg as well as you would like. but Yeah. yeah there's Yeah. That is the downside.
00:11:07
Speaker
but for you i like the i like I like it when I'm kind of already anticipating the making of the food, knowing that I've got like really good ingredients for it.
Cooking Routines Compared
00:11:21
Speaker
You know, you've got a really nice mature sheep's cheese or something, you know, goat's cheese. and that right oh And it's like anticipation of it, getting excited.
00:11:36
Speaker
Are you like an occasional cooker? Like... Like it'll come up to like a Friday night and you'll go, you go, oh, you know what? ah ri Risotto. Because I think in the last week's episode, you were doing ah a kale.
00:11:50
Speaker
I made it last Friday. of may ah made ah black kale um and pancetta risotto. That's right.
00:12:02
Speaker
And it was a corker. corker.
00:12:07
Speaker
My girlfriend said still little bit too much salt, but everything else, it was one it was really nice. Very nice. All right. All right. Yeah.
00:12:20
Speaker
It's the first time we tried it. We, we, All right, so for you, it's like, right, I'm going to do this meal. I'm going to go out and I'm going shop for it. and I'm going go here, get some nice pancetta and get some nice this, that, and the other, going to come back and cook it.
00:12:35
Speaker
Yeah, it's almost ceremonial. It is. it is I mean, i'm i'm i'm I'm on the other end of the spectrum where I cook all the meals all day, all week, all month, all year.
00:12:50
Speaker
So I cook... I think I did up, I cook about a thousand meals a year. ah So from for me, there is no special like thing usually. So it's just like sitting down. I've got to write what I'm going to be cooking that week.
00:13:09
Speaker
And then out of that comes the what things do i have to buy? And then online, yeah fill it all out, pick it all up. Yeah.
00:13:20
Speaker
Different kind of, different things. That's how it is for my girlfriend. I don't really that. She does that. Yeah. So generally when when I'm cooking something, well, not necessarily.
00:13:32
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, probably once a week she'll do something that's a bit out of the ordinary, right? Definitely. Right. But there are some go-tos that she'll do, like drunk rabbit.
00:13:45
Speaker
She does.
00:13:48
Speaker
All right. She's very nice. Yeah. me Drunk because it's it's it cooked in um it's cooked in red wine, rabbit cooked in red wine for about five hours. Mm-hmm.
00:14:00
Speaker
yeah all right so yeah the sort of prepping and buying so the yeah so the whole in ingredient ingredient thing for me so i know that some people are know if you've got uh food um food risks risk restrictions yeah your you you're you're kind of like you know you're kind of cooked with tends to be like you know chicken nuggets pasta and that's all kind of fine and and I'm not in that space, so um which which is good.
00:14:30
Speaker
um So we have no, like and I'm sure your kitchen is probably exactly the same, they there is no... I couldn't go into my kitchen and just put a pizza in the oven or get some chicken then the nuggets out or a pre, you know, like like a microwave meal and stab the thing on the top of the shelf.
00:14:55
Speaker
It is and nice just ingredients. It's just in in ingredients to make things with. um The only exception in our house...
00:15:08
Speaker
ah ram We will get, in fact, that's what we ate this evening, just before we record started recording. We'll get um um a pizza base. We'll get from pre-prepared, the pizza base, and make a homemade pizza. And it's damn good, actually.
00:15:27
Speaker
It's very good quality. Yes, we I will do that as as well. So, yeah. and if i think But I believe many professional chefs don't make their own pastry either.
00:15:41
Speaker
they They buy it pre-prepped in a bowl. A lot of pizza restaurants buy their own pre-prepared lot.
00:15:53
Speaker
um me Yeah. There's also a lot of, on that subject, there's a lot of of of chefs like Jamie Oliver swear by, if they're done in the right way, um frozen vegetables. Yeah.
00:16:08
Speaker
No problem at all. Depends on how they're frozen. But if they're good quality vegetables that be frozen like right after they've been harvested um can preserve all and preserve more of their goodness than they would actually with fresh veg.
00:16:27
Speaker
so you can like Jamie Oliver would actually swear by you know, frozen asparagus if it's good frozen asparagus.
00:16:37
Speaker
Right. Now, I know that eleg the Alexandra doesn't doesn't like Brussels sprouts, but but I really like Brussels sprouts. The work of the devil. and Just thinking about vegetables, and they are really good in the ah in the in the air air fryer.
00:16:57
Speaker
They are just like magical. so um So I've got frozen broccoli. Shove that frozen in the air fryer. ah I cover it in some oil, some ah garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper.
Achieving Restaurant-Quality Meals at Home
00:17:15
Speaker
Fucking brilliant. Comes up a treat, mate. Comes up a treat. Can't bear those things. Anything cabbage related other than the kale, clearly.
00:17:28
Speaker
Kale, lovely kale. Kale's great. In Italy, kale is considered a type of cabbage. In fact, it's called black cabbage in Italy. All right.
00:17:40
Speaker
Yeah, it's part of the passica family. Yeah. I know these things because I gross shit. ah Right.
00:17:51
Speaker
So so there's like the food prep part of the cooking and the planning thing, which I think we can all agree. ah hate planning food planning for the week. I know that you are yeah kind of in that world, but but that is like not really know i know three meals a day.
00:18:11
Speaker
that I cook that I have to think about that I, and it isn't just like stupid meals. it is It is like, it's the kind of meals that I kind of go right.
00:18:24
Speaker
If I went out to a restaurant and I and i was served, this is how I think about every single meal. If I was served this in a restaurant, What would I think?
00:18:35
Speaker
Yeah. and Okay, that's cool. And if I think, yeah, if I've served this, I think, yeah, this is good, then it's cool. So yeah that so um'm so um'm I'm cooking lunch and dinner, restaurant quality. Right.
00:18:54
Speaker
all week, all year. and that is And the and so planning for that is is and horrible because I hate it. So here's my question then. You've developed skills, Martin.
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, not chef-y-chef skills, but but guy guy in a kitchen who has to cook a lot skills, yes.
00:19:19
Speaker
Okay. Yes. that I've read... I read or I heard an interview with Gordon Ramsay last week, and he said he now, when he's training chefs, new chefs, new young, new bile chefs, he doesn't let them cook for a little bit.
00:19:41
Speaker
new new power No, that's not the right word, is it? Young. No. He doesn't let them cook for about a week. He has them tasting. He wants them to develop the skill of tasting and smelling food for a whole week before they even touch the concept of
Senses in Cooking: Tasting and Smelling
00:20:02
Speaker
cooking. Absolutely.
00:20:03
Speaker
Right. Absolutely. You, you um tell us, Martin, tell us about your, your, your tasting and your smelling skills.
00:20:15
Speaker
Well, I mean, I can only think about it in terms of when I go out to eat at other places like, you know, restaurants or something, and I usually try and I will always go to good places. Right.
00:20:27
Speaker
but They don't necessarily have to be expensive, just kind of, you know, good. So I don't go to any chain any any any any chains. So when you think about the American chains like Olive Garden and, i don't know, Red Lobster and all that, no, none of those. ne Nope, nope.
00:20:47
Speaker
so And then when I eat it, I am always, i go, what's in this? Oh, I can taste coconut. I can taste this. I can taste that. And then I, you know, and and the and the menu what will sometimes tell you,
00:21:02
Speaker
be helpful as well. So, yeah, so I will always be there kind of going, what's the what is in this? Like, why does this taste so, so good? Yeah. Or what's missing?
00:21:15
Speaker
Sometimes you could be like, oh, it's almost really nice, but it's missing something vital. Right. Or it could be improved if they just added, i don't know, sesame seeds to it.
00:21:29
Speaker
huh or ah they added crunch something this I like playing with textures yeah yeah yeah for sure ah something crunchy something soft something in between yeah yeah so so that so for me that's that is like and then you then you kind of go okay I must rim remember this and then you And then you forget, obviously. But but but but there is part of my but of my of my brain that will remember these things.
00:22:03
Speaker
So that when I'm cooking my own food and I'm tasting it, yeah there is a kind of like think about... the other things that I've, I've had and like, does it make sense? And does it, someone suggested last week that chefs, a lot of chefs, um, we're kind of linking this to ADHD, a lot of, ah um, people with ADHD make very good chefs because they're, they're very hyper vigilant.
00:22:31
Speaker
Okay. And hyper curious. Um, So he's become like like um Heston Blofental, who's a three-star Michelin English British chef, hyper-curious all of his life about tastes.
ADHD and Creative Cooking
00:22:47
Speaker
Yeah, I think there is bunch of us ADH doers who there is a there there is a dopamine factor. in the actual cooking and and the making of a plate and where you place everything and the colours and the proportions and they know so that it looks good and and the color of the plate and which plate you actually choose. Even the quantity. The quantity of stuff.
00:23:16
Speaker
Not cramming the plate. Right. So there is bunch of us who are like that. you know And then there's also, I'll say, most of ADHDs are not like that.
00:23:31
Speaker
you know, cooking is an absolute fucking horror show where you have to follow instructions and you miss them and you screw things up and you don't have the right ingredients because you didn't, because the shop, you know, and you can't be asked and it's too much effort and you just, just much rather just, you know, put in a frozen pizza or i get a takeout, something mean like like that, which, you know,
00:23:59
Speaker
ah I totally get because well I've got an extra obstacle. I've got an extra obstacle because I live in Italy. My Italian friends, if I offer to cook, they just look at me like, what the fuck you talking about?
00:24:15
Speaker
You're not Italian. You don't know how to cook. I mean, I'm not exaggerating. Some are much more generous, obviously. I'm generalizing a bit, but it has happened.
00:24:26
Speaker
They just looked at me like, what? What did you just say, Paul? You want to cook for us? Are you kidding me? In a kind of nice way, but it's kind of jarring, you know.
00:24:38
Speaker
It's irritating. Because Italians, they they're very spoiled. They they have the very good ah cooking generally, um very good palates. They understand really – they're really good understanding, lot of conversation about what they're eating.
00:24:56
Speaker
understand about, you know, you know, terms of, you know, conversation around food, but they're a little bit, um, I don't, how could I put it?
Cultural Perceptions on Cooking
00:25:07
Speaker
Um, the kind of, they don't travel well, Italians. So they travel outside of Italy. It's all, you know, they always eat badly.
00:25:19
Speaker
So it's the same if I offer to cook them a lasagna, to look at me in complete horror.
00:25:29
Speaker
yeah Love you all the same, Italians, but... Right. I mean, Americans, generally, not great. Not great.
00:25:40
Speaker
Not good. Not good at cake cooking...
00:25:46
Speaker
But that's the same in the UK, isn't it? mean, I grew up eating shit food when I was a kid. It was shit, mostly. Yeah. ah mccain aberlier And pizza and fries was like, yeah it was that was a lot of water. Everything was frozen. In the 70s, it was almost like, it was like cool to eat frozen food, wasn't it?
00:26:14
Speaker
Yeah. mean, I try to think the shit that I've eaten in the 70s and 80s. Oh, I know. Because that's when going going back to my mum shopping, you know, in different stores, that's when the the the supermarkets came up.
00:26:32
Speaker
And then yeah we would just go to one... place and then you know i think uh there was this less time less time for cooking you know as um you know sort of women's lib i guess kind of kicked kicked off and they were getting more into the workforce and there was less time to kind of cook i guess i'm just being really general and then we just had that generation that generation were the first post-war generation where all of a sudden economically both parents needed to work
00:27:11
Speaker
So all of a sudden, you know, they say that that's one reason why our generation were a little bit screwed up because we first generation it didn't have a parent at home, you know, pretty much constantly. All right.
00:27:27
Speaker
I wish yeah my parent hadn't been been at home. That would have been ah fucking brilliant. I know that. been Yeah. I know that. I hear you. All right. So um how are you generally? I've got up next. How I am generally when I'm cooking.
00:27:45
Speaker
I'm a bit anxious generally. I'm not I'm a bit and all.
00:27:52
Speaker
Are you a composed right cook, chef? Oh, fucking mate, look. Yes, absolutely. Are you? Well, so but because yeah we're we're for two very, very different. So for you, it's like, I'm going to cook...
00:28:08
Speaker
A risotto. It's like, oh, shit. You know, the deep deep deep pressure is on. You have to go out and get all the ingredients and make sure everything's right. So yeah it's it's a big fucking song and dance for you. yeah So no wonder there's a lot of things. Whereas for me, I'm like, I'm in that kitchen like two thirds of the day, right it feels like.
00:28:30
Speaker
So I'm like, yeah, course, I'm butm just going to bang this shit out. it For you, it's like hovering. Next meal, next meal, next meal. Right. Oh, no, I it just like that. There is no. Actually, I mean, like, yeah this is the funny thing. Maybe this is the funny thing. Like when um we're we're thinking about like, you know, our childhoods, every time my mum and and I think you you may experience this, experience this.
00:29:00
Speaker
When my mum had guests around. she would decide to cook something she's never cooked before. Right.
00:29:11
Speaker
She'd be like, oh, it has to be special for these people. So will cook something that I've never cooked before. She looked through the recipe book and, you episode game. And that's the worst time for you to be pulling out, you know, something under pressure.
00:29:29
Speaker
You know, you've got all your friends around and then you decide on. so So I feel anxiety. More like when I'm cooking something that I've not cooked before.
00:29:41
Speaker
Right. A whole new technique or something. And for some reason, um um there are people around who are going to eat it, which doesn't happen that often. but but if i' eat If I'm going to cook a risotto, I'm pretty pretty calm.
00:29:56
Speaker
and I know the score. You know, ah it can't go very wrong at
Cooking Under Pressure
00:30:02
Speaker
all. and Easy. Yeah. result it's not It's not easy risotto actually.
00:30:08
Speaker
Yeah. it's not that It's not so easy. It can easily go wrong a risotto. If you get the consistency wrong, it just becomes a mess. You can overcook it. Yeah. Or becomes too liquidy,
00:30:22
Speaker
um you know, et cetera. all you just put things in the pan in the wrong order.
00:30:29
Speaker
so Oh, I know. Yeah. i'm I am quite good at improvising when I've fucked up. Right. Don't you... tell you oh of What was I going to say?
00:30:44
Speaker
I can't remember. I've got a mum story.
00:30:49
Speaker
My mum was different. My mum was different. What about mum? We would eat frozen food from packets, from the boxes, you know, for bird's eye stuff, you know, frozen burgers. All sudden, guests would arrive, you know, you'd have a ah dinner, you know, a dinner with friends coming around, not our friends, my parents' friends.
00:31:09
Speaker
And all a sudden, turns out my mum's ah as an absolute goddess in the kitchen. You think, what the fuck? Can really pull it out of the bag. She can pull it out.
00:31:23
Speaker
I'm standing there like a rabbit in the headlights, thinking, what's going on there then?
00:31:32
Speaker
ah she was she was a She could cook really well when she wanted to. yeah. Actually, you know what? I was just thinking, I only get really anxious.
00:31:43
Speaker
You know, like, so if, what?
00:31:48
Speaker
She was, you're going, she was.
00:31:53
Speaker
um She was. like Oh, God. She has a bit of a lag. She could cook really well when she wanted to.
00:32:03
Speaker
Yeah, nice, nice. um ah ah Speaking of van of cooking and and anxiety, most anxiety you get is when you're cooking Christmas dinner and you've got a lot of people or Thanksgiving, that's also this the same. And you've got a lot of people and there's a lot of things and So there's like the turkey and the stuffing and the gravy and the vegetables and the mash and the, and the roast potatoes and the, and the, and the peas and the carrots and the, and the, it's just like this freaking monstrous meal of about 30,000 different moving parts.
00:32:47
Speaker
And then get really stressed out. that That's like, that's, that's a fucking killer. My mom for Christmas dinner, she used to get up at four in the morning to put the the turkey in the oven.
00:33:00
Speaker
so She worked like a dog for Christmas. She worked a lot really hard. Yeah. That's horrible. Okay. It's absolutely horrible. Next up, I've got – well, I've called it quality tools because that's, for me, that's really important.
Importance of Quality Kitchen Tools
00:33:18
Speaker
it It slightly gamifies it because if I've got – I prefer to have one really quality knife, sharp, good quality steel, good knife, spend some money.
00:33:32
Speaker
I'd rather have one good one than 12 that are blunt and you can't cut anything with them. Okay. 12 blunt. Blimey, that really winds me up. It's like trying to finely cut some shallots.
00:33:48
Speaker
You know, actually you used like be better off with the sea foodo you need the holy, holy trinity of knives, which is one, if which is a chef's knife. Then then you need a a bread knife and you need a a three and half inch paring knife.
00:34:05
Speaker
Yeah. Once you've those three. Yeah. Pretty much done. Exactly. Exactly. Well, ah a Japanese chef would have, would have one knife. They'd be fine with one knife.
00:34:20
Speaker
Yeah. But then I've got, I like good pans, good saucepans.
00:34:28
Speaker
Ooh, I have a favourite, of course. And I think anyone who who cooks probably has their own little favourite little saucepan. I have mine. I have mine. They have my mine. and Mine and their favorite saucepans.
00:34:43
Speaker
Yes. Mine are Le Creuset, the French brand. Le Creuset. All right. I have all clad, which is like fairly standard American i professional kitchen grade.
00:35:02
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:06
Speaker
Yeah, i like, I don't know why, I just like good accessories. like A good cheese grater. Oh, come on. Love that. Yeah. but i once I once tried, i thought i would I would indulge myself, Martin. I wanted to buy a tagine, which is Moroccan, kind of like a terracotta type shenanigans for making casseroles. Okay.
00:35:34
Speaker
I thought I'd buy Le Creuset tagine. Okay. three hundred and fifty eu a row Didn't buy it. who Didn't buy it.
00:35:47
Speaker
That's a shame. but No need. no need for that. No need. No need. I'll tell you something that I that i do do. and i do it in the mornings most more than I do when I'm actually cooking because my my because i have ADHD, I can, there's various things that that can go
Distractions in Cooking with ADHD
00:36:13
Speaker
wrong.
00:36:13
Speaker
One of which is I kind of zone out of what I'm of of what i'm doing. Like I'm i'm doing something, I'm chopping up something and then I'm looking on TikTok and then um half an hour has gone by.
00:36:28
Speaker
um Yeah. And I kind of like, it's hard to, it's not always easy to kind of just go because once you've prepped everything and you've got all the ingredients, you make sure everything's there. it's's It's like go go, go, go, go. Like chop your onions in the pan, you know, garlic in the in the pan, this, you know, peppers. but but So it's all kind of quite, you know, it gets quite intense, quite fast.
00:36:52
Speaker
So what what I do TikTok, um on tiktok lives, so live feeds, there There are restaurant kitchens that have a live feed of what's going on, of what the chefs are doing. Interesting. So it could be like a diner.
00:37:13
Speaker
I mean, like the Chinese restaurant kitchens are insane, right? Right, yeah, yeah. So I have that up. There's like chef going, boom, boom, boomm boom, boom bu boom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then it gets like... it it it gets me like Yeah, yeah, yeah. It gets me flying along.
00:37:33
Speaker
Weird you say that. It really helps. Weird you say that. I was watching um something similar yesterday. They were doing the same. it was ah it was a Michelin star restaurant.
00:37:46
Speaker
And that is fascinating. You could pick up a lot of skills just watching that shit, that stuff. Pick up loads of skills and tips. Tons. Yeah.
00:37:56
Speaker
Without paying for lessons or... Right. i've i it's It's interesting because I do cook a lot of Asian food. a lot of um So watching how they do it in the kitchen, so you can see them cooking all kinds of stuff and then you see what order they they put things in and and yeah how they go about it. And it's really...
00:38:20
Speaker
Yeah, you can you can kind of pick up a lot of stuff that way. but Especially with the wok. I never really – I tried to develop the skill of cooking with a wok. It's not easy. The wok is not easy at all.
00:38:36
Speaker
it it takes a level of confidence because your heat is really high. Everything cooks really quickly, which means you've got to have all your, everything that is going in, it has to be prepped and measured out almost perfectly.
00:38:53
Speaker
Yeah. Before you go. So you're just like high heat, boom, boom, boom, boom. all going in. and It has to be like manically quick. Yeah. So. well But they also use the different parts of the wok, won't they?
00:39:06
Speaker
So like some of the stuff is already cooked. They just like shift it to one side of the wok and cook with the other side of the wok.
00:39:15
Speaker
Right. They will also have several woks going on and the at the same time. So you'll have different parts of that meal but cooked in different woks and then they will kind combine in right at right at the end.
00:39:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. and Walking crazy. but what How would you be, that comes, that brings up an interesting subject of like this, the, how would you be working in a, in a, in a busy restaurant kitchen?
Preference for Solitary Cooking
00:39:42
Speaker
How would you perform? or bad or indifferent? Badly. Badly. and Like, i been like i've i've ah mean, you and I have both worked in yes professional kitchens.
00:39:59
Speaker
We have. As people who wash up all the plates and shit. Yes. So I haven't actually cooked in one, but I've worked in one.
00:40:11
Speaker
And it is insane. um i've I've worked in ah in ah in ah in a few and it is like is I could not work in there. it's just yeah Some of them are tiny, aren't they? Some of the restaurants are tiny.
00:40:31
Speaker
Yes. Yes. I mean, like, how you actually manage to function in those places is crazy. Yeah, it's insane, isn't it? I could not. What about home, though?
00:40:49
Speaker
yeah When I'm in the kitchen, i have to be on my own. i don't like other people in the kitchen with me. That was my next question. i can't think about ah right i can't think about cooking other person doing.
00:41:03
Speaker
and what this other person is doing Yeah, yeah. He's just like, get out. Go away. I can't deal with you and the food.
00:41:16
Speaker
In Sicily, you've got like four or five people in there with you cooking, all giving advice and opinions about how to cook a carbonara, you know, and it drove me insane. fuck them.
00:41:30
Speaker
Couldn't deal with that. Fuck them up your ass. Yeah, not good. No. It's not a good look. No. Get out of my kitchen. Okay. Next on the list, I've got the sensory part.
00:41:44
Speaker
Sensory part. So um mostly about smell I've got here, but could be about other sensory things. Is the stuff like, give an example.
00:41:56
Speaker
This afternoon, my girlfriend, girlfriend she made a um a boiled egg. I can't go near the things. Right. I can't stand them. The smell really makes me reach.
00:42:14
Speaker
I can't stand the smell of boiled cabbage. um There's some certain sensory things. Sprouts don't like the smell of cooked vegetables. I'm okay if it's like, like you know, literally just shown the flame and whisked out again.
00:42:32
Speaker
Otherwise, this the smell I don't like at all. How about you, Martin? I can't think of any particular smells that I don't like, but what I do like about the smell and how you can use it, you can smell when food is is is cooked or when it's done.
Using Smell to Cook
00:42:54
Speaker
You can have something cooking yeah and by its smell you can tell...
00:42:59
Speaker
whether it's cooked or not. like yeah Like there'll be a certain so smell that you get at a certain point. You get, yep, that's cooked. Yeah.
00:43:11
Speaker
And there's there's some people which some people, it can be a bit used in a bit of a pretentious way, but there are people that before they start eating their meal will smell the food before they eat it.
00:43:24
Speaker
And I really like that. I like that behaviour. It makes a lot of sense. It's really important. I tell you what, how does it smell before you eat it? From from, from from a, from a, from the cook's point of view, from my point of view,
00:43:40
Speaker
I hate that because because by the time I've cooked it, yeah I've smelt that thing for like the last yeah fucking half an hour or whatever.
00:43:52
Speaker
And I've been tasting it and smelling it. so So when it comes down to eating it, I have almost grown somewhat numb it because that's all I've been smelling for the last time.
00:44:08
Speaker
Parfair. Yeah, yeah, yeah. um So it's it's like, you know, like, I don't know. on. no i was just i was thinking more so I was thinking more about your guests before they start eating it.
00:44:28
Speaker
You know, actually, you know, lower yeah your nose into your food. just give it a little sniff. Yeah. Develop your skills. you'd like You know, develop your skills in, um you know, your sensory skills.
00:44:45
Speaker
Like you with wine. You know, you do that with white red wine. You would do that, definitely.
00:44:52
Speaker
I don't. No. Okay. Other sensory things. I don't exactly drink drink wine either. Yes. ah Other sensory things.
Cooking Seafood and Ethics
00:45:03
Speaker
This is more the touchy feely thing. How about how are you with gutting fish? Gutting and filleting a fish. Yeah.
00:45:16
Speaker
Cool. I'm all right with it. But can understand people that would just, they would just, it just can't stand it. I'm all right with it. Get your fingers in there.
00:45:26
Speaker
Right.
00:45:29
Speaker
Yeah. Squids, squid is worse, if you like. But the this the thing that I don't really like cooking, which I do cook, is lobster.
00:45:44
Speaker
Okay. So... ah okay so
00:45:50
Speaker
With that, you you you get fresh live lobster, you bring it home, and they're alive, and you have to and you have to kill them, you know, to eat them.
00:46:03
Speaker
And that is... That's... that I usually cook lobster about maybe three or four times a year. why um but Crabs as well. Lobster season.
00:46:14
Speaker
And and i it's it's not fun, but I do it. Yeah. Yeah. humanely as possible I like eating that stuff as well and like octopus but I feel bad every time because they're highly highly intelligent animals and I adore them and yeah that's a tricky one ah um but i've stopped delicious though I've stopped eating octopus
00:46:48
Speaker
Yeah. For that reason. That one's on my don't eat list. Yeah. Yeah. so but Highly intelligent animals. But that's for another episode, it maybe. be Okay. I've got, ah maybe you've got some other stuff, um Mr. West, but I've got pretty much covered up everything.
00:47:08
Speaker
The last thing I've got is plating and presenting.
Food Presentation Tips
00:47:12
Speaker
For me, there's nothing that triggers me more than an overloaded plate.
00:47:19
Speaker
Because my my dad, he used to have cooked breakfast every morning and it was loaded. You could not fit any.
00:47:30
Speaker
And I just hated hated watching him him eat it. And as a cost, I can't stand ah can't stand an overloaded plate, you know, like mountains of food just cramming it on.
00:47:42
Speaker
God, that really, I don't know, really makes me like it triggers me. What can I say? ah You need a a a a bigger plate.
00:47:54
Speaker
So that would be an American answer.
00:48:01
Speaker
You need a bigger plate, mate. um Yeah, I mean, presenting is is, I think that's when the dopamine, like that's one of the high points.
00:48:15
Speaker
that How you actually arrange the food on the plate. yay you and Yeah. I mean, I have, I've got about eight different,
00:48:31
Speaker
ah eight different plates right they're all different colors they've they've got different things going on right so it's not just one plate i've got like eight different ones and then i literally pick the plate for the meal so so that it will look good on that plate like some colored food will not look good on certain plates and they'll look good on ah on other plates. And I pick the plates for the food.
00:49:03
Speaker
That's all part of the service I do day in, day out, Paul. I've still got some plates that you gave me.
00:49:15
Speaker
Blimey. With chilies around the edge. That's crazy.
00:49:21
Speaker
Do you remember? Oh, I vaguely remember. think you gave them to me as a wedding present. Vaguely? Yeah. They're nice. Still have them. Maybe. Still got them. Yeah. Still got them.
00:49:33
Speaker
Oh, nice. Okay. I think West...
00:49:38
Speaker
Unless you have something else. um got i've've I've got a couple of tips, a couple of things, which just to make food and cooking easier if you have a ADHD.
Efficient Cooking Tips for ADHD
00:49:51
Speaker
Yeah. I have multiple timers, and like, on my on my ah in my yeah on my kid or my kitchen, and I use them all the time so that I don't overcook things or forget things.
00:50:06
Speaker
or forget If I'm cooking, I don't actually leave the kitchen because if if i if I actually walk, know, if I'm cooking something and I go and do something else, yeah i will I will forget and I'll burn something easily. Like and it happens all all the time.
00:50:23
Speaker
um i do I do batch cooking to to make things easier. So, if you're going to cook food for one night, can i can I cook twice the quantity so that I can use it on a different night?
00:50:38
Speaker
um Yes. so And every every week there will always be something that is a bit like that. So like lasagna, I mean, that's a fucking pain the ass meal to make. But if you're going to bother making something like that, then then it's going to last you like,
00:50:58
Speaker
Three meals, right? So, right. So that... That's a good point, well put. Right.
00:51:09
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I think that's it. We're talking of lasagna. things ah i think so. there was a There was a woman in, um there there is a woman in in Ireland that's called Lasagna.
Humorous Lasagna Story
00:51:23
Speaker
Okay. Because she's about 45 or something by now, she's getting on in years. It's all because of her parents. they They went on holiday, one-off holiday.
00:51:35
Speaker
um to Italy in the 1970s and they they saw this word lasagna on the menu didn't know what the hell it meant but thought it sounded exotic and they decided to call their next child lasagna so that she said it's on her passport lasagna McNeil or something like that lasagna
00:52:01
Speaker
any hoe that's funny
00:52:06
Speaker
OK. All right. I think might as well just wrap wrap up there because otherwise we'll just chat on forever. All right. Well, let's jump. All right. Well, now we we have to rate cooking.
00:52:20
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Is it a dopamine hit or is it a burnout thing? Is it a dopamine hit or is it a burnout thing? ah Well, could you say that you that bit of music could be at least 10 seconds longer? I'll be I'll be fine with that anyway.
00:52:40
Speaker
ah
00:52:43
Speaker
Dopamine hit. I love cooking. I really like it a lot, especially the prepping and stuff. Dopamine, it's up there. right it's It's a nine, especially, oh we didn't talk about this, especially if you've got you but your mates around and it's like nothing better, good food, good ah wine,
00:53:03
Speaker
And good company. That's massively important. the Good company thing. um I'm going to give it a nine dopamine hit.
00:53:14
Speaker
All right. Cool. um I think I'm in a different place because I because I because the amount of cooking that I do. So has. very little dopamine for me.
00:53:27
Speaker
um Yeah. The whole thing, that the meal planning, the prep, the area prep, yeah keeping the kitchen clean, the clearing up, the cooking, the cutting, the fucking all that.
00:53:38
Speaker
Jesus Christ. um But that there is the dopamine in there. so And I do quite enjoy So I'll give it like a six. There we go. Okay. All right. And what about burnout? Fair enough.
00:53:50
Speaker
Burnout. Well, you just talked about cleaning, doing the plates. So I'm going to conclude that factor in the burnout score because that's there's nothing worse. you'd like You wake up the next day, oh God.
00:54:06
Speaker
And it's just a mess. I'm quite a clean and tidy cooker, though. I clean as I go. quite I'm not too bad. Burnout, oh, four. Low.
00:54:17
Speaker
Low.
00:54:19
Speaker
oho but How about you, Mr. West? that so that gives so that that's So that's like a plus five for you. That's quite a good positive overall thing.
00:54:33
Speaker
I would almost give it like a, it's a burnout of like seven, would say So... ah It's actually just a a minus one overall for me. Why why so high? why so way so much of a burnout?
00:54:58
Speaker
Because of the sheer amount of it that I do every day. Right. Okay. just Because there is a difference between just kind of doing a a a one-off.
00:55:10
Speaker
Right. Yeah. when you but When you are doing it all day long, every day, it does tend to like... tend to like become this fucking mountain that you climb every bloody day. Yeah, yeah.
00:55:28
Speaker
is it because it be to thats me if If it's like me, if you're like me, when things become repetitious, because i'm I'm usually the one that does the dishes almost every day, and that goes like, oh, God. It's like, how how is it possible?
00:55:44
Speaker
There's only two of us in the house. There's like piles of of dishes to do every day. Mm-hmm.
00:55:53
Speaker
Yep. ah And I do those too. All right. All right. Well, let's jump in the tractor quickly, quickly, and we'll make our way to Alexandra's who who Haunted Inn.
00:56:09
Speaker
Yes. There we All right.
00:56:27
Speaker
I'll sit up straight for this bit. I've got a bit of a slouch.
00:56:34
Speaker
All right. ah Do you want to read out yeah her? her sir Alexandra's haunted in section. Yes, why not? So um as ever, Alexandra is one of our main contributors. She's got her own unique position in our in our village.
00:56:53
Speaker
She was um got some feedback from alex Alexandra from last week's um autumn ah theme. She said something quite interesting. She said that in Greece, autumn really signifies for her the burnout phase.
00:57:12
Speaker
because um ah the of how much stress is involved in autumn in Greece. I checked it up, actually, and it's a really good point. It's a bit like that in Italy as well.
00:57:25
Speaker
I looked it up. the um The Greek population, normal resident population, is about 9 million the In August, that population jumps up by another 7 million foreign tourists that are added to the population.
00:57:45
Speaker
That's just insane. so you can know you can imagine the stress of that, you know, looking after all those people, you know. Like your your your country doubles in population in that in that month.
00:57:58
Speaker
That's insane.
00:58:01
Speaker
And you were saying, Martin, that where you live, it's got a lot of tourism as well. In the autumn.
00:58:13
Speaker
Oh, New York. Yeah, but they, they unlike Greece, where I'm guessing most of people go for the for the summer vacations. So New York has...
00:58:26
Speaker
ne new york has It's all year old. In fact, you so, and yeah, autumn is the is the best time to come here.
00:58:39
Speaker
and the and and the And the winter as well. like So, yeah. Okay. We get lots. We get about 66 million people. Limey.
00:58:51
Speaker
Trundling up into my hometown. and Okay. All right. Well, so that is a that just leaves you.
Episode Conclusion and Next Preview
00:59:04
Speaker
It leaves me to say that we'd love your feedback.
00:59:08
Speaker
course we would. Because without saying, we'd love your feedback. Let us know ah feedback about this episode. Absolutely. And maybe you've got some um something you want to contribute for next week's episode, which is, Martin, tell us about next week's episode.
00:59:29
Speaker
Well, next week will be just in time for Halloween. So yeah it's going to Halloween special. Halloween special. Get excited.
00:59:41
Speaker
Whoop, whoop. Ghost stories. Who knows? Yeah, ghost stories, Paul. Oh, ghost stories are right. I don't mind ghost stories. Yeah. I can't expand.
00:59:53
Speaker
Yeah, see? but i'll I'll be good. I'll contribute. That is Halloween. Right. That is Halloween, Paul. Ghost stories is Halloween.
01:00:06
Speaker
Yes. Hang on, I'm just going to stay on war, war, war. Music out, out. but Oh, okay. We're winding back. All Hallows Eve, it's about, yes it's about, yes. e Yeah. Because All Hallows Eve is about when the. It's like dogs though, they're not just for Christmas.
01:00:29
Speaker
Ghost stories could be any time of the year.
01:00:34
Speaker
know. Yeah, but and it's so it's at that time of year where the veil ah between the living and the dead is at its thinnest.
01:00:46
Speaker
Yes. that's That's the whole thing. That's when get the Day of the Dead. It's just how it's celebrated, I think. And you get ghost stories.
01:00:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. See, like the way the Mexicans do it. I'm all over that. Love it. So get excited, Paul. All right, okay. Look, there you You like Halloween more than you think you do.
01:01:15
Speaker
Oh, right. Okay. All right. you're thinking about is like American kids. yeah All right. It's just American kids in little. Trick or treating. and and they In Spider-Man outfits going around doing trick treat.
01:01:30
Speaker
You see, that's what you're thinking. isn't it? Yes. Yes, it is. but it's But it's way more than that. Okay. All right. I'll concentrate next week. Here we go.
01:01:41
Speaker
Back on the outro again. Yes. Here we go.
01:01:46
Speaker
have to get Paul excited about it. Oh, boy. Um...
01:01:58
Speaker
Where are we? Where are we? Okay, here we go. 88B is delivered fresh every Tuesday. Fresh every Tuesday to all bevayers of fine podcasts. Please subscribe to the pod.
01:02:11
Speaker
It is. And rate most marvellous. Feel free to correspond at Will in the comments, but wait those more if you wish to see our beautiful, beautiful faces. And so forth to the YouTubes and the TikToks.
01:02:24
Speaker
And you can pick up a quill and email us at adhdville at gmail.com. But in the meantime, be fucking kind to yourself. And I beseech you, fellow ADHDers, fare thee well with gladness of heart.
01:02:37
Speaker
ah whole Do that. Do that thing. that thing. Pew, pew, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grub.
01:02:49
Speaker
Lovely.