Croutons, elevation and stretching.
A tiny piece of advice on creating better things.
I’m no Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall.
For starters, I don’t have his hair.
Or his cottage.
Or his, you know, foppish English charm.
But still, I can cook. And I love it.
As Bourdain said, “People confuse me. Food doesn’t.’
My mum taught us when we were kids. She was always super adventurous. So we always ate weird stuff. You know, like aubergines. We weren’t flying off on holidays every year. So maybe cooking Moussaka or homemade pizza in the 80s, was her way of seeing the world. Either way, it rubbed off on us. And, now we’re all older and all handy cooks.
Something struck me this week about food. It’s pretty obvious. Well, totally obvious. But still, I think it helps a little. The secret and the essence of good food. And all creative endeavours really.
See, I made a caesar salad for my wife. It was nice enough, not like Michelin nice, but nice. I started with solid basics. Standard nice fresh Kos lettuce and decent shop bought dressing. But, here’s the twist.I toasted croutons in a little garlic oil and some fresh oregano (garden) and added some nice shaved parmesan. Now, my wife can’t (scrub out) isn’t a great cook. She ate pasta for the first time in college. So, it seems like witchcraft to her. She enjoyed it and said, “it’s the croutons and the parmesan that make it”.
And yeah, that’s it, isn’t it. That’s the secret.
Solid basics, then elevate some ingredient and you get transformational results. All ships rise. That’s the secret. That’s what good stuff is all about. The small things, that elevate and turn ordinary into extraordinary. The things that go a little bit further. That make a little bit more effort. That add a little more value. And it’s the same for creativity and communications or any creative endeavour really. Good basic ingredients. Then add a little elevated magic. Think a little harder, go a little further. Sweat an idea a little more.
Sometimes in food, that’s sourcing better ingredients, or mixing things in unique ways. It’s rarely overcomplicating things. It’s always a bit of work, a bit of craft. And, that last mile (which is always lonely) without question, is always worth it.
Elevation stretches you.
In Miles Davis’s auto biography, Miles, he describes the same when he says,
“I’ve always told musicians in my band to play what they know, then play above that. Because then anything can happen, and that’s where great art and music happens”.
Always elevating. Always stretching your imagination, your ambition and your capability. Finding the sweet spot for your flow, as a person, an organisation or a brand.
And Bowie said “Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
That’s not perfectionism, or unrealistic expectations. It’s taking stock, to see whether you’ve elevated some part of what you’re doing so you end up with something better. Or whether you’ve stretched far enough, to make things interesting.
I’m bored of quick.
Tired of derivative.
I don’t want 10 versions of shit, I want 1 version of amazing.
And you can talk all day about efficiency, but I’m beginning to appreciate the art of elevation.
Because, the good stuff stands out.
When we experience it, we know someone’s spent time elevating something. It becomes more valuable.
We can see it, taste it, smell it, feel it.
And, it’s better because of it.
So please, I beg you.
Take stock every now and again, and elevate.
Cause you know, we need things to look up to.
