If music be the food of love

I tweet. A lot. I've been lucky enough to come across some excellent food writers and bloggers in the twittersphere. 

One which had really stood out for me is Food Glorious Foods by @rachaelhogg. Rachael regularly includes the music which inspires her food or accompanies her cooking.

Music was my first love and has shaped who I am. Being the youngest of three sisters I spent my first years in double figures eavesdropping on Pearl Jam (food association coincidental), Nirvana, Alanis Morissette and other think-rock blasting from behind closed bedroom doors. At the age of 15 I began my gigging odyssey, the rest is history... 

So, where food and words combine for me, Rachael has added that third dimension and landed a spot-on combination. Inevitably, this has made me think about the relationship between my food and music and specifically, music to accompany my cooking.

My musical journey

In my formative years, music was a discovery. I was as happy listening to Ace of Base and Celine Dion (come on, I'm trying to be honest here) as to Blur or Rage Against the Machine. As time moved on I became hugely passionate, some might say obsessive, about particular bands (one in particular - I've seen the Manic Street Preachers well over 30 times).

At university, this continued to shape my personality. I met a boyfriend and together we began to expand the types of music we listened to. Every Wednesday I would attend my favourite indie night, Popscene at Clwb Ifor Bach, and shake my thing til 4am.

In the few years following university my life took a number of twists and turns, and with it my musical preferences. A new life in Bristol has offered me a place to call home for the last four years and, after years of squirming between extremes, I've settled on who I am and what I want from life.

Sonic suppers

I'm at my happiest cooking in the kitchen, listening to music; occasionally being twirled around in my apron by Rich.

On week nights I almost always cook from scratch so I tend to be in the kitchen for long enough to bother turning on a particular song or station.

Right now I listen to a lot of Jo Whiley on Radio 2. Like me, it feels like she's finally found a place to be herself in this slot. No more banging on about how much she really LOVES drum and bass (she can leave that nonsense to Fearne Cotton). She mixes old and new; comfort songs from my childhood (e.g. Fleetwood Mac), new music (for my 6music injection) and something in-between (like Popscene club staples, Pulp). 

But for those long cooks - the roast dinners, the tagines, the slow cookers - my default setting is the parents' playlist: the umbilical cord of music. Songs from my childhood. Songs full of memory. Songs of family. Songs of sitting in the back seat staring into space. Songs with lyrics you just can't shake off (even if they still don't make any sense).

Enter Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Sting, Kate Bush, Eurythmics, Peter Gabriel, Carole King, Don Henley and, of course, The Beatles. Comfort in food, comfort in music. 


Follow up: Parent's playlist on Spotify.