Food and I
How We Cook Is Truly Who We Are
I believe that we should engage
all our senses when eating and pay diligent attention to what is on the plate
before us. It’s only good manners and a sign of respect for the hands that
prepared this meal. Even when alone and if only for the sake of our own self-respect.
I suppose the humble peanut butter & jam sandwich may be excluded from this
scrutiny, unless we have fresh, home baked bread. Which completely alters the nature of the beast.
Food has colours; flavours and
aromas; temperature; textures; rhythms (visual and taste wise) and even sound,
all contributing prominently and (or) subtly to the diner’s overall experience.
Any dish reveals a great deal about the hands that prepared it. And this is
where the attentive diner’s sixth sense comes into play: emotive perception. Those
who are emotionally and spiritually fully awake (or at least self ware) can to a
certain extent read – or perceive – the true nature of the hands; mind and soul
that prepared the dish in front of us. I like to call this ability “seeing with
your heart”. An ability that may (or may not) enliven or dull the appetite for
what is on the plate before you, depending on how deep you look beneath the
surface . . .
Emotive perception may reveal a variety
of details about the meal and individual dishes in front of us. Obvious signs
indicate the quality of the ingredients used. Texture and appearance attest to
the detail and care applied to the initial preparation(s). Taste; flavour;
aroma and colours subtly reveal the cook’s skill, experience and character. A
little more elusive, is the dish’s balance and rhythms in the major elements.
This hints at the cook’s temperament, emotional state (at the time of
preparation) and overall cooking philosophy. Effectively, every multi-dish meal
becomes a revealing narrative to those diners who are paying attention and are
skilled at reading the signs.
The above does not imply that we
have to do a ‘deep reading’ of every meal or dish. There are seldom deep or shattering
revelations in a peanut butter and jam sandwich (jelly for you Americans). Few
of us can constantly and consistently maintain this level of focus on a daily
basis without risking burnout or becoming bored, maybe even disillusioned.
Emotive perception is in the
main, a self taught skill – in my opinion. I think some of its foundations are:
- Emotional and psychological maturity (or some degree thereof),
- Emotional experience and “IQ” – being in touch with the inner self,
- The ability to think, and reflect, objectively,
- A healthy level of common sense and a wide general knowledge,
- Being able to connect cause and effect on personal, emotional and – sometimes – spiritual levels, and
- The skill to objectively see or perceive someone else’s viewpoint (and resist from judging).
I feel that to some extent emotive
perception also helps with the reading of the recipes of other cooks or chefs. A
published recipe is not simply a list of ingredients and method instructions.
Except for the soulless, commercial recipes of industrial kitchens, most recipes
also reveal (intentionally or inadvertently) significant levels of information
about the author’s technical proficiency and dedication; knowledge; outlook on
life; cultural heritage, etc. Much can be gleaned when you look closer at a
recipe and think a little about what’s being said, or not.
Excellent cooking is not only a
technical skill; it is also about heart & emotion, spirituality or
mindfulness, respect, dedication and personal character – collectively: culinary
passion. The true nature of any person shines through in how he or she cooks for
themselves, when alone, and when in the company of those nearest to us. You are
only partly what you eat, but you truly ARE how you cook. The rhythms of your
knife invariably gives you away.
In The Beginning
My Mom, both Grannies and some of
my aunts were good cooks. A very few were spectacular cooks. The cooking of
food never interested me when I was young; I had other challenges and interests
back then. Only the gobbling up of food – any food – at maximum quantities
mattered. Anyway, cooking was women’s work, men only barbequed. And yes, I had
a helluva lot of growing up to do.
Today I deeply regret not sometimes
just watching at the very least those cooks prepare and cook the food that
shaped my culinary heritage. I could’ve saved myself a great deal of time
catching up. Inadvertently, I also missed the opportunities to gain basic knowledge,
skills and experience. Almost all of those cooks have already passed away. So I
have also lost some recipes for dishes that punctuated significant points during
my childhood, teenage and young adult years. Such is the blazing stupidity of an
ignorant youth.
I only learned to cook properly during
my early thirties, after my first partner and I started cohabiting. Prior to
then I could cook well enough to subsist as a bachelor, but certainly not to
thrive. Food (and eating) was important, but not important enough to learn how
to become skilful and eventually excel at it. Taking over my parents’ small
takeout business after Dad passed away, changed all that, and my life. Fifteen
years of formal, industrial scale cooking and daily dealing with the vagaries
of customers, staff and suppliers resulted in a vast deal of catching up and
getting on with it very fast. Particularly in the beginning when the learning curve
was near vertical all the time. I'm still deciding if that particular change in
my life was to my benefit or detriment. The pro’s & con’s for each choice
are very evenly matched.
As with all amateurs and novices,
the road to technical excellence and maturity takes many detours and throws in a
few potholes and dead ends to boot, too. Paired with evolving career challenges;
romantic and interpersonal relationship management; personal interests and
hobbies; the pressure of a changing society and world, and personal growth
unavoidably occurs. Hopefully for the better, if you are lucky (to some extent).
Throw in the process of physical aging, the demands of time remorselessly
thundering by, and change is fundamentally and utterly inevitable. Mostly, these changes made
a better human being out of me, I’d like to believe. More patient and tolerant,
and with a better understanding of the world and people around me. Change also
brought seasons of melancholy, a vast awareness that each of us can only depend
on ourselves, and an all transcending appreciation for solitude.
The Living Years
The role of food in my life has
also changed significantly over the years. From mere fuel to becoming a tool of
my trade; and eventually learning that I too have some ability to cook, it has
now also become a vehicle for remembering my past (and those significant
individuals in it). Food is now also the practicing of simplicity in quality in
parallel with respect and spirituality. It’s been a sometimes emotional journey to my ‘here & now’.
Of course, eating well is not
only about fancy ingredients, exotic cooking techniques or avant garde presentations.
It is also about the mundane, day to day dishes of hurried week days and lazy
Saturdays and Sundays. I feel one of the foundations of good food lies in home
cooking and the dishes and foodstuffs we ate on a daily basis whilst growing up
and further on. Add the cooking of family, friends and the members of our
communities, and a clear foundation for food appreciation begins to emerge.
Fundamentally, we are each the sum of our experiences, after all.
At present, I have the luxuries
of time and being alone again. I can live again on my own terms. There is now
the opportunity for a new, voluntary journey of discovery: the Far East and
India. Off course, I’d love to visit those far off places in person, but my
financial reality excludes this longing. So, I’ll have to travel by mouth,
figuratively speaking. I have the time, general knowledge and experience, and
motivation. Therefore, bon voyage it
is!
Yet, in the end, when all’s said
and done, an appreciation for eating well: physically, emotionally and spiritually,
is ultimately what 5 Flavours is all about.
© RS Young, 2024
Image Credits:
All non-watermarked images were
found on Pinterest
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