Opening the shelf.

I've been collecting fragments about food for a while — half-recipes, things I forgot to write down, a conversation with a vendor at the spice market, the way my grandmother held a knife — without a place to put them.

This shelf is that place.

It's not a recipe blog. I am not a confident cook. What I am is a person who likes the kitchen — the steam, the small repetitive movements, the half-hour before everyone comes home. Most of what's going up here is me figuring something out for the first time, sometimes failing at it, sometimes only realising what I learned a week later.

A few rules I'm setting for myself:

• Honest about scale. A small kitchen, two people, sometimes three. No infinite pantry.
• Honest about not knowing. If I'm copying a method from somewhere, I'll say so.
• Slow. Posts arrive when something earns its way in. Not weekly.

If you cook, I hope something on here is useful. If you don't, I hope it's at least pleasant to read.