Im not a gourmet
I read an article Sunday morning in the NY Times online called, Unhappy Meals - Michael Pollan - New York Times.webarchive. This article essentially says that humans, to be Healthy and Human, should eat food, not a lot of it, and mostly plants. Pretty damn simple. And, I believe, it encapsulates how I feel about food. I don’t think food should be complicated, although I do like complicated food, and I do think food should be real food, although I do occasionally enjoy fake-ass cheese and ‘butter spread’. And, I have come to resent being considered some food-snob gourmet because of how I feel about food (and wine and cheese). So here I am to defend my food tastes.
I fully understand that some people, by boyfriend in particular, think of food as simply fuel for the body. I, on the other hand, consider food a pleasure, one of life’s greatest pleasure, as a matter of fact. And I realize I am not in the majority stating this. Especially in a culture and country like the United States that, since the scientific 1950’s has embraced scientifically and chemically created food- think Kraft singles and green ketchup. North Americans LOVE science and modernity, at least N. Americans did 40-ish years ago, and the idea of a pill that fed you must have seemed like a marvel. I just find it depressing.
(Now, I have a perfect opportunity here to launch into a discussion of how the apathy, complacency, and Homeland-Security-Think of N. America has led to, instead of a Nation of Thinkers and Scientists who can better the world, a bunch of fat morons who think math is hard, putting young would-be chemists in jail for even thinking of ordering mail-order chemicals for home chem labs, and essentially handing the scientific super-thinking to the citizens of China and India- cementing them as the next World Powers- you mark my words! to the enormous detriment of North American citizens and our jobs. Really...it’s mind-boggling just how un-American the Bush Administration really is, isn’t it?)
So, back to food, I almost forgot what this blog was about......
I like real food that’s cooked simply and naturally in an environment anyone with a normal Western kitchen could make with a few simple directions. I do NOT like food that was created with the help of some weird warehouse and tastes like the packaging it came in. And b/c I don’t like fake-ass food, I feel like I’m considered high-maintenance or strange...
Okay wow. Wow. This blog posting has gotten out of hand. I owe that to the 2 glasses of red wine I had with dinner. So, here’s something a bit lighter and easier to swallow.
I made a hollandaise sauce about 4 months ago for a steak I made. I only needed a tablespoon, but you can’t just MAKE a tablespoon of hollandaise, you have to make a Great Big shit-load of it; you stir and stir and add more butter and before you know it you have 3 Cups of tasty fat. I didn’t want to throw it away, God Forbid!, so I froze it.
Tonight, I boiled up some asparagus and remembered the sauce, so I heat up the frozen sauce in the microwave, whereupon it quickly separated into a nasty mass of yellow and oil. Well. Well! I just beat in an egg yolk, a tablespoon of butter and before you know it I had a perfect, PERFECT, bowl of hollandaise. This is my new secret: Make a butt-load of hollandaise. Freeze it. Then when you really need it; reheat in micro, beat with egg and butter and, in less then 3 minutes, you have perfect hollandaise. Perfect. (then, if you are me, you madly gobble it up with a spoon like it’s ice cream then complain later ‘cause your tummy hurts)
I fully understand that some people, by boyfriend in particular, think of food as simply fuel for the body. I, on the other hand, consider food a pleasure, one of life’s greatest pleasure, as a matter of fact. And I realize I am not in the majority stating this. Especially in a culture and country like the United States that, since the scientific 1950’s has embraced scientifically and chemically created food- think Kraft singles and green ketchup. North Americans LOVE science and modernity, at least N. Americans did 40-ish years ago, and the idea of a pill that fed you must have seemed like a marvel. I just find it depressing.
(Now, I have a perfect opportunity here to launch into a discussion of how the apathy, complacency, and Homeland-Security-Think of N. America has led to, instead of a Nation of Thinkers and Scientists who can better the world, a bunch of fat morons who think math is hard, putting young would-be chemists in jail for even thinking of ordering mail-order chemicals for home chem labs, and essentially handing the scientific super-thinking to the citizens of China and India- cementing them as the next World Powers- you mark my words! to the enormous detriment of North American citizens and our jobs. Really...it’s mind-boggling just how un-American the Bush Administration really is, isn’t it?)
So, back to food, I almost forgot what this blog was about......
I like real food that’s cooked simply and naturally in an environment anyone with a normal Western kitchen could make with a few simple directions. I do NOT like food that was created with the help of some weird warehouse and tastes like the packaging it came in. And b/c I don’t like fake-ass food, I feel like I’m considered high-maintenance or strange...
Okay wow. Wow. This blog posting has gotten out of hand. I owe that to the 2 glasses of red wine I had with dinner. So, here’s something a bit lighter and easier to swallow.
I made a hollandaise sauce about 4 months ago for a steak I made. I only needed a tablespoon, but you can’t just MAKE a tablespoon of hollandaise, you have to make a Great Big shit-load of it; you stir and stir and add more butter and before you know it you have 3 Cups of tasty fat. I didn’t want to throw it away, God Forbid!, so I froze it.
Tonight, I boiled up some asparagus and remembered the sauce, so I heat up the frozen sauce in the microwave, whereupon it quickly separated into a nasty mass of yellow and oil. Well. Well! I just beat in an egg yolk, a tablespoon of butter and before you know it I had a perfect, PERFECT, bowl of hollandaise. This is my new secret: Make a butt-load of hollandaise. Freeze it. Then when you really need it; reheat in micro, beat with egg and butter and, in less then 3 minutes, you have perfect hollandaise. Perfect. (then, if you are me, you madly gobble it up with a spoon like it’s ice cream then complain later ‘cause your tummy hurts)