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| A delicious-looking meal (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
When I was there at Giovanni's I ordered a New York style pizza with anchovies, onions, and pepperoncinis. Not many takers on this one which was okay by me since it's my favorite kind of pizza and taking some leftovers home wasn't all that bad. My brother and youngest sister both tried some and they liked it. That surprised me since I usually don't find many others who like anchovies. Maybe it's kind of a family thing.
After talking about the topic of their meals with my mother, I told her about the meal I had fixed the previous evening for my wife and I and how much my wife had enjoyed it. Then I went on to describe the big breakfast I was planning for Saturday morning--a feast that would include scrambled eggs, patty sausage, potatoes O'Brian, biscuits, and gravy. We do enjoy our Saturday morning breakfasts.
At this point my mother interjected, "All you do is talk about food."
Initially I protested that this was not so because food is not the only thing I talk about, but then conceded that I do talk about food a lot. When the family is together we often go off on the topic of food. I've found this to be true in many scenarios with other people as well. After all we all have to eat, eating can be very enjoyable, and what better thing to talk about since we all probably have some interesting food stories to tell.
Especially when the family is all together for the holidays we'll talk about what we're going to have for dinner that night, go off on a food buying mission for ingredients, spend time preparing the meal, and then talk about food while we're eating and after the meal. Eating is inevitable and the meals together can be significant events.
Now don't get me wrong, we talk about plenty of other things, but the meals are the catalysts for getting together and having conversations. When I think about the pot lucks, the restaurant outings, ceremonial meals for things like weddings and birthdays, and all of the other ritualistic gatherings in which food is consumed, I realize the importance of breaking bread together.
As many of us gather together for Thanksgiving and other holiday meals in the coming weeks, conversations will be flowing. The meals can be excellent prompts to delve into memories of the past. People who have passed on will be remembered. Stories of days gone by will be told. Favorite recipes will be shared. There's nothing like a happy meal together and the conversation that goes with it.
What's for dinner?
Do you find that food is a common topic of discussion when you are with others? At gatherings with family or friends is meal preparation and consumption an important part of the day? Have you found meal times to be useful for gathering information and enjoying entertaining stories?
Hi Lee - interesting post .. and I agree with you - though some aren't interested in cooking - and some don't get to experience that ambience in a kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have a big old farmhouse kitchen .. with a large table or two, a window seat looking out to the garden with a table for eating off and sharing .. an Aga .. and generally a gathering around = dream on for me pro tem!
I love anchovies too .. and usually have a pizza Neapolitan .. capers, anchovies, olives, pepper sausage etc - similar to your choice.
I am really angry with a chap in Cornwall as they threw my mother's cookbook she'd left behind away .. seems incredible the chap or his manager didn't have the temerity to ask us ...
Still such is life - I love food!! I have a family who isn't so fussed ... so I'll be visiting foodie friends!
Cheers and have a great weekend - and hope today's breakfast was good .. sounds it ... Hilary
I do happen to think that Americans concentrate on food a bit too much. But at Thanksgiving, well, it does sort of go with the territory. ~Mary
ReplyDeleteDear Lee, it seems to me that when I go to a restaurant and have lunch or supper with a friend or a family member, both of us share more easily than normal. Having food on a plate in front of us and forking it up and chewing is something that keeps the conversation from being too formal. And the less formal it is, the more comfortable people feel with sharing. Or so I think. Peace.
ReplyDeleteHilary -- I like your farmhouse kitchen dream. I wouldn't mind the same. It's good to know that I have someone else to share a pizza with. I can be difficult to eat a whole pizza by oneself, though leftover pizza is pretty good.
ReplyDeleteMary -- I don't think just Americans think about food a lot. There are so many great cuisines around the world that it's pretty obvious we aren't the only ones.
Dee -- A dinner with others can be such a pleasant occasion of sharing experience that conversation comes natural and without to much restraint. I guess that why we have business lunches and romantic dinner dates.
Lee
Yes, I talk about food a lot. My kids do too. We watch a lot of food shows and appreciate good meals. love cooking. Just wish we could eat out more, but it's expensive.
ReplyDeleteHey Lee....seems you're popular with the Ugg boots people, lol!
ReplyDeleteI love food, and when I became vegetarian 3 1/2 years ago I was obsessed with finding healthful alternatives to meat...and creating tasty vegetarian dishes. I love the pot luck gatherings you're talking about..something about eating together does prompt conversation and 'togetherness'. One of my favourite things is to eat with family and friends, and then, after the meal, to linger at the table with a cup of tea and keep talking! I think we should all try to eat together on regular days that aren't 'festive'...when my kids were still at home that's when I would ask them about their days and all that stuff..we'd have some great conversations over dinner. Happy Thanksgiving Lee!
I learned a lot about food from you when we were touring, Lee. I hadn't really had anything exotic at that point, being raised on Southern food. That tour had a lot of food "firsts" for me --my first Vietnamese food, for example. Now I wouldn't even consider that to be very exotic!
ReplyDeleteTheresa -- Eating out can be very expensive. My wife and I used to eat out a lot, but now we are basically down to one or two restaurant meals per week. Wish we could do more.
ReplyDeleteEve -- I miss having those together meals. Now my wife and I usually eat alone which is also nice.
Kelly --Being on the road provides many opportunities for trying new foods. I liked to get regional meals as much as possible. Now the Knoxville area has a far greater selection of places to eat than prior to the 80's. Maryville actually has some outstanding choices.
Lee