Miles Collins

The merits of social networking in cyberspace

This blog is one of millions, food blogs are set to take over the world and Tom Cruise (playing me) will make a film about it which nobody will quite understand. There are food blogs for everything and from everywhere so why bother starting my own? Well, the main reason is that I wanted another vehicle to express my thoughts on food and other matters in a more informal way to that of my food website. GFS is a labour of love, it is designed to act as a reference guide for chefs and home cooks alike whilst hoping to strike a balance between easy to understand and technically informative. I don’t want to write a thesis but I want to get the key facts over in a way that is easy on the brain.

Whilst writing and photographing for Gourmet Food Source it became apparent that many people who visited the site were interested in asking follow up questions but could only do so via the ‘contact me’ option. Although I try and cover all bases with each page I realised that visitors to the site had their own opinions and experiences and wished to share them with me. Hence the blog.

This blog is still finding its feet (I shall refrain from calling it an organic process because that is so Newsnight Review annoying) I really don’t know the direction it will ultimately take but that’s the fun of it. My main aim is to try and give a good account of both myself and my profession and hopefully redress the balance between the reality of being a chef and the perception of one created by the media. Intersperse that with some random thoughts on photography, music, wine, growing your own etc and hopefully it will create an interesting alternative.

Without doubt the absolute best thing about writing a blog or commenting on others is the aspect of social networking. I have become ‘friends’ with people I would never otherwise have met or come into contact with from many countries and have become a better person for it. Commenting on blogs gives one freedom of expression and a way of publishing your thoughts in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

I have been very fortunate to have a number of visitors prepared to comment on this blog. Many of the comments have been informative, witty and thought provoking and others (mostly mine) are a simple good mannered reply. Whatever the comment it doesn’t matter, they all count and are all greatly appreciated because it makes the effort so worthwhile.

Today, a regular contributor to this site passed on a gift via a third party which directly related to an earlier blog post of mine. It was an exquisite salt scrub made from basil, sandlewood, rosemary and grapefruit described on a homemade label with beautiful handwriting.

I haven’t got a day or night off for two weeks, we are incredibly busy and short staffed at the same time and the pressure is on. Seven days from now I shall have a day off and swap the shower for a long soak in the bath. Already I am thinking about being off and doing bugger all save a salt scrub and that speaks volumes for the thought behind the gift.

So this is to say thankyou to all who have contributed thus far and a special thanks for the person behind the gift who makes me lift my game with every cerebral comment and message of support. This is the positive side of the internet and I would dearly love to create a community of like-minded visitors to share thoughts and feelings with.

Finally, to whom it may concern; enjoy your tea and thankyou.