The Carpenters
We met two interesting old school carpenters with a generation separating them. When I mean old school I am talking about artisans with over 40 years practical expertise. It was enlightening seeing old tools that I remember my grandfather having but that I haven't seen around for decades. Those tools are still in perfect working order and being used on a daily basis by at least one of the carpenters.I was sad to hear that the oldest one is now a permanent old age home habitant. But on the cultural portal you will see same of his work left for posterity. The other carpenter really held my attention in the last week in December ... especially when I saw examples of his workmanship that has stood not only the test of time but also of the elements. I saw a door still in perfect working order that was made more than 30 years ago, unlike many that we see today.
What really stood out for me, was that I was looking at the work of real masters with years and years of practical experience,a quality that is found lacking in today's artisan training programmes, which spew out "so called" artisans in less than 3-months.
We will be bringing you more information about them in the coming months, and I am going to see if there is anyway that those skills that are seriously missing today cannot be passed on to younger generations. So watch this space.
The Foodies
In this category we met many interesting people who's passion is food. Ranging from avant-garde Portuguese cuisine to traditionally Indian, and many more international traditions in-between. One thing I liked about all of them, and which linked them, is their passion for doing things different. And you know what ... they stood out.In this section I'm going to share some of the discussions that I had with some of the Chefs ... some are the owners of these establishments others are not.
But there is one that I met for the first time in the last day of the December that really stands out in my mind and with whom a discussion started with architecture and progressed to archeology before settling on food. That Chef really had me entranced. It was interesting to listen to his passion for everything, but with food taking central place in his life. Here is a Chef that not only uses local produce, but has also created some amazing recipes using traditional fruits, vegetables and herbs while having on top of all the capacity to meet the special needs of people suffering from all types of food alergies or distinct food sensitivities.
In the next couple of months I'm going to share with you our ongoing experiences and chats with Chefs. So, keep watching ...
Next we will be bring you a snippet about: Junk Greenies and Local Artists