In Between

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Summing up the feature ‘Modular’.

Early this year, in February, I introduced the feature topic modularity to you (see post “Modular”). As an example of typical modularity, I used good recipes. You know: easy to adapt to season, style, or scale. Over the last four months, I had collected in the “Featured” category some examples for modular recipes on the Parsley-Lane Blog. Not surprisingly, there were quite a few salads or bowls among that collection. Like: ‘Valley View’, ‘Lucky Bowl’, ‘Rabbits, Rabbits’, ‘Picalotta Fusion Salad’, ‘Washerman’s Wharf Salad’, and ‘Blueberry Spice Pot’. Salads and bowls are modular from the bottom up – literally.

Then, surely, there are the soups. Another perfect example of food you can scale easily to different needs and occasions. The examples I picked for the special were ‘Rutabaga Weekend Stew’ (with the ingredient special on cabbage beet), ‘Roll Over New Year’ (a recipe duo containing the perfect soup for feeding a mover’s group of friends and family), ‘Fellow Cooto Soup’ (no, I did not name this one ;-)), ‘Prime Number Soup’ (the recipe came out on Valentine’s Day, as 2 is the first true prime number), and ‘Smutje’s Otherday Stew’. Plus, of course, ‘AnyBroth’ – no soup without a proper and easy to make herb-and-vegetable-broth.

Other examples for recipes included Multi-Meal Prep (‘Multi-Meal Prep, Exemplary I’ and ‘Multi-Meal Prep, Exemplary II – The Sequel’). Also, very modular recipes can be menus and brunches, like all the ‘Festive Menu’ and ‘Sunday Brunch’ set-ups from the past 3 ½ years. And, modular recipes use ingredients creatively (‘Using up the Flour’, ‘NoegkX – No Fun?’).

So much for the obvious. But food is a very complex topic. It always also involves ‘the other side of the food’: waste, and how to reduce it. Because that can shape the matter of food on a very large scale (‘Thank You, I’m Good’, ‘Learning from Scraps’, ‘Another Angle’, ‘Art or Edible’). The amounts of food that are wasted every year and the large heaps of garbage piling up around the globe give a good example of how small decisions can influence large numbers. So, kind of a co-related modularity.

As we are speaking of large amounts and bigger modules, the whole topic scales up to The Big Pot (‘Striped Elephant’, ‘Carrot Season’, ‘A Hat Is a Hat’, ‘Obvious’, ‘Priceless’, ‘Seasonable’, ‘Get It In Line’, and ‘Think Oval’).

And, last but not least, modularity as a principle always involves People & Places. They are the ones who shape the culture that makes good food and mindful eating come to life. On the Parsley-Lane Blog, those are, for example, the Table Talks: ‘Braver than Ever’ (Ingredient Special and Table Talk on chickpeas with ‘Hülsenreich’ from Leipzig), ‘Curious Customs’ (Table Talk about reducing waste with Restlos Glücklich e.V. from Berlin), ‘Best Beeties, Best Buddies’ (Table Talk about companion planting with author Ortrud Grieb), ‘Bold Kitchen’ (Table Talk with FoodCycle from London). And, of course, Local Foods and Places with a View (e.g., ‘Local Foods: House of Food 2025’, ‘Place with a View: Café Botanico’ – both from Berlin).

So maybe you have figured out by now why I would choose a feature topic that seems to be a term from engineering to talk about food. Because, in real life, plates, pots, and shopping crates can be important factors when it comes to detail. Both great and small.

Thank you for caring.

Side Notes:

  • The current feature, which started on June 5, is about The Essence of Time. A fitting topic for summers, without slumps and stress. The rhythm behind the song you will find in the introduction post, “The Essence of Time”.
  • Talking of rhythm and song: I am wishing you a wonderful first summer weekend. Maybe, if you are around, with the ‘Fête de la Musique’, which takes place on June 21 all across the globe. You have not heard about the ‘Fête de la Musique’? Well, here are some pointers: “In Tune”. Have fun, have good food, be kind!