The joy of food

Apologies for the long silence. A close friend of Philippe's and mine passed away very suddenly from a heart attack three weeks ago, leaving behind his wife and their 1 1/2 year old baby. It's still incredibly difficult to come to terms with the fact that a wonderful person with whom we shared so many laughs and good times can be taken away from us so quickly and so early, and life has pretty much been an emotional rollercoaster since.

A good friend is never easy to forget, and it wasn't surprising that many of the little daily things in life would trigger memories of the times we spent together. What was surprising though, was how often food was the said trigger - walking past a restaurant we ate at together, walking past a restaurant we had planned to eat at together, seeing one of his favourite dishes on a menu, or even trying an altogether new dish but thinking how much he would've enjoyed it.

As food bloggers, we spend inordinate amounts of time scouting out newest dining places, experimenting with exotic ingredients and attempting to master that intimidating celebrity chef recipe. Let's never forget, though, how much the pleasure of eating is derived from the company around us, dear friends and loved ones whose smiles, jokes and friendship add more flavour and joy to eating than anything we can create.

G - we miss you.