My Fridge

My other half often says that I'm his live-in version of the reality TV chefs in Ready, Steady, Cook! I normally decide what we're having for dinner after I come home from work and spend a few minutes with my head stuck inside the fridge to see what's in it. I take stuff out (generally based on a simple principle of what's on the way out) and twenty minutes later, dinner is ready to enjoy! Some of my best recipes have been born out of desperation or lack of ingredients!

When we moved to our current home, we built a kitchen extension: what was there would have been better described as a small pantry with a sink! It is incredible to think that women in the early 1950s in Ireland had to produce family meals in kitchens the size of the one my house originally had! When designing the kitchen, I insisted on buying what I call a "proper" fridge; a Duplex or as they're called here, an American Fridge-Freezer. We had huge discussions and heated arguments about this. He felt it was unnecessary and flashy (the fad had not caught up at the time), I felt the complete opposite. I suppose it is hard for an Irish person to understand how fundamental a fridge is for a Mexican, and how important it is for marital happiness! A fridge is not only a necessity, but a sort of status symbol in a weird sort of way. Every single Irish-Mexican couple we have met, has had the same issue when it comes to fridges! odd isn't it? 

Eventually, we came to a compromise, we bought the smallest of the American Fridge-Freezers in the market at the time, it did not break the bank, it had no water/ice dispenser (which I personally think are a waste of time in a country which is most of the time too cold to require ice anyway) and I had plenty of space to store my food stuffs.  After a year or two, they became sort of standard and now our fridge seems tiny compared to some of the ones in the kitchens of the Celtic tiger, but mine is still going and although always absolutely packed, it serves its purpose wonderfully.

I usually stock carrots, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, spring onions, fresh chiles (staple diet of any good deserving Mexican), smoky chipotle chiles (tinned), stuffed olives, butter, eggs, some sort of salad leaves, parsnips, limes, lemons, apples, pears, berries (when in season), milk, buttermilk, soft cream cheese, mild cheddar, chorizo, Parmesan cheese, celery, salad dressings, sweet pimientos in a jar, condensed milk in a squeezable bottle (can't have pancakes without it), white wine, red sweet peppers, green peppers, pickled jalapeno chiles (in a jar), fresh ginger, natural organic yogurt, low fat mayonnaise, mushrooms, cramberry juice, good quality pesto (great saviour on lazy pasta days), cherry tomatoes and whatever other fruit or vegetable in season. Like everybody's fridge, mine changes with the seasons.

My freezer always has Thai sweet basil,  frozen lime leaves, frozen peas, all sorts of frozen left overs (can come in handy when I know I'll be late to cook or feel like taking an 'apron-day-off'). Different types of bread, frozen pastry (short crust and filo), all sorts of meat and fish, home made curry paste (Thai as it is my favorite), cooked, frozen Thai rice, ice, chocolate and plain vanilla ice-cream, frankfurters (handy for chili-dogs when I'm feeling naughty or homesick), black and white pudding, sausages and rashers (just in case we feel like a fry on a weekend) and a few other frozen vegetables for emergency use only.

Status symbol or bare necessity, at the end it does not matter: I love my now old, reliable, big fridge in my kitchen!