Let’s Talk about the Pleasures of Food
As I continue to be immersed in my new book, I have had many food subjects on my mind. One of the things I’ve learned so far is that the principle of pleasure is at play when we devour food, whether it’s a hamburger, a peach, or a magnificent roast goose. We come to love certain foods because they FEEL good in our mouths and in our tummies.
Research tells us that even back in the ancient history of animal and man creatures experienced pleasure when it came to feeding themselves. There’s always a challenge describing the sensation of, say, lemons in our mouths, or of the sting of garlic, or the magnificence of nutty green olive oil on our tongues... so when you take a stab at this, you must pause, reflect, take yourself back to an actual experience of eating, rest there, and feel into that experience.
It’s challenging and fun at the same time.
I’m a sensory writer, for sure, as anyone who has read Bowing to Elephants can attest to. I took great pleasure in describing the African landscape, the feel of Venice in winter, and the magnificent pastas cooked by our housekeeper Elda when we lived in Florence. What’s true is that I’ve been fixated on food most of my life. I’ve thought a lot about food, and love using evocative words to conjure a feeling, emotion, or state of mind.
• Why don’t you think about a word or phrase that could conjure the experience of strawberry ice cream? Or a perfect grilled cheese sandwich...
The food I deeply love is usually the savory kind (as opposed to sweet, or bitter). Here is a sampling: soft scrambled eggs, grilled eel (sorry for those of you who are squeamish), chickpea soup, baked potatoes, salmon, clams, artichokes, roast chicken, fried egg sandwiches, BLTs, avocados, caviar, bread stuffing, soft brie cheese, and baby green beans.... and that’s just a start!
I learned to love roast chicken because I had it as a kid (my mother managed to cook this bird well, with proper crispy golden skin and moist succulent legs) and it soon became comfort food for me, and I decided scrambled eggs could be heavenly after a good friend taught me the way to cook them perfectly – the key being lots of butter and a wooden spoon, I discovered an affection for smooth chickpea soup laced with garlic and rosemary that I learned to make in a cooking class in Tuscany.
• What are foods that you have come to love ? Consider reflecting on this and sharing with the rest of us...
Some foods came to me in interesting restaurants or on my various travels, OR from some unique person in my life – the grilled eel showing up in any number of terrific Japanese establishments (San Francisco), the BLT made to perfection by my ex mother in law using her perfectly ripe red tomatoes and dark crisp bacon, the green beans showed up in so many Paris bistros on a family summer trip – “haricots verts” they were called and they complemented many main courses from sole meuniere to grilled steak, and I discovered clams during the few summers I took my family to visit my mother in Long Island – dug out of the sound the very same day, and briny and juicy as can be. We ate them by the bag full, complete with wildly hot horseradish, lemons, and tabasco, accompanied often by glasses of crisp white wine.
Our favored foods are so often connected to family stories, to members of family or dear friends. Why? Because when we learn to cook, or when we sit down to eat, we are always in communion with others, and thus our understanding and our preferences for food connect us to those special folks.
• What meals or events connected you to certain foods? What about that lemon meringue pie your daughter made for a birthday party, or those perfect raw oysters offered up at your favorite SF bistro where you drank champagne and celebrated a newfound independence? Think on that connection between food and relationship, food and love...
Food nourishes us and keeps us alive for sure, and it is also there to bestow love and connection with our world. And as I’ve been saying for a very long time now, LOVE is what it’s all about in this human journey.
With gratitude and hope that we can continue this conversation,
Mag
P.S. I invite you share your thoughts with me about food (and beyond)!
P.P.S Photo by Cristina Anne Costello on Unsplash