Mar 28, 2009 18:29
Magic is like food, or sex---We Need it, and it can be found nearly everywhere. (and their are *All Levels* of it around, *Great* to really bad, and how-to books, and franchises where you can 'buy it cheap'...)
From time to time, out in the Internets, I see folks lamenting, or even angry about the lack of Feri Teachers in their area, and I am astonished.
Are there no trees? no rocks or clouds where they live? does the Wind Never speak?
We do not have the only way into the other kingdoms---and, it "frightens* me to see people treating us like we do. (I like being in a 'sex cult', this seems too much like the Other kind.)
Where ever you are, there will be 'Good Local Food', and people who are happy to share it, once you get to know them. (OK, there will be junk food too, most likely. Figure it out)
Please, do not ignore the regional cooking of *where you are* because you have heard great things about 'this' style of cooking. Explore!
I am amazed and gratified to see so many folks who like our style of 'making a stew', but, *we are not the Only kind!*--Get out and gather Local Ingredients
Food is a very personal thing for many of us, a symbol of the love we have for our families---so some of the best cooks may not be very open to sharing much at first---- most will thaw, if you really love food and Want to learn. Even if they have not written a cook book, they can *show* you.
They can teach you much...
So will the silky feel of the bread dough, warm under your palms. Bread is a thing of touch, as much as measurement---the flour needs more or less water, the yeast has moods, depending on the weather--experience can tell
If there is a restaurant (or cooking school) you really *Must eat at*, you will travel to it. (why demand it come to you?)
--IF the chef publishes a cook book, buy it, and follow the recipes. You can even do some of the things at home.--It may very well help you be a better cook.
---That won't make you a graduate of 'That' cooking school.
Please don't claim that it did
It *Will Not* give you the smell of warm summers evenings in the town where the food is made, nor the light of the full moon over That Valley..
But You *Have* the Moon, Where You Are, and spirits and gates of your own.
Go out, Use the stuff you learned from us, and books, and the hills, and plants, Found your own 'kind of cooking'! Share it with those you love!
Eating *anything* changes us, eating Feri food changes us forever---like falling in love...be careful who you give your heart to.
Keep an eye on what, and how much you eat, 'Nutrition,' is *Important* but you can get it from Any Number of cuisines---Don't limit yourself, or make food a punishment, because it is 'necessary'--Have Fun!
Should a graduate of that 'world famous cooking school' open a restaurant of their own near you, check it out! You might Love it, find another home there (or not)
Franchise is another word for 'empire'.
I really distrust that-concept.--no matter if founded for the 'most noble' of reasons, empires exploit the people, the places/cultures they colonize.
... Never expect a franchise to have the Same food as the First restaurant---they need to be 'standardized', and that pretty well guarantees that, "something" will be left out.
.... Just for the record , 'KFC' is not all there is to 'Southern Cooking', OK?