Food makes me giddy.
I was cutting a lime the other day and I had to stop and just breathe in the smell until the rush subsided and my brain settled down. Smell and taste are entwined with all my brain pleasure centers, and with memory as well. (For me, the smell of limes IS Mexico, layers and years of experiences, sights and sounds and tastes, all in one little sniff.)
Fresh herbs give me the same burst. So does the scent of Earl Grey tea. And the taste of vegetables! Last Sunday I made caponata, with little pale purple eggplants, tomatoes, red onion, garlic, lots of parsley, lemon zest, capers, green olives, olive oil, and a splash of wine vinegar. The first day, I ate it just like in this photo, on toasted fresh bakery sourdough with extra olive oil. It was heaven. (And I ate caponata every day until it was all gone.)
I've always been fascinated by what people eat. When I travel, when I read historical novels, or novels set in unfamiliar places, I always want to know what people eat, or ate. Lately, I've been reading a book called The Blue Zones Solution, about the foods eaten by the longest-lived and healthiest people in the world. So interesting! (And I can tell you that there are no Golden Arches...)
I read cookbooks for fun, even though I know there are lots of things I will never get around to trying, because to me food is stories, and language.
Where does this come from, I wonder, this obsession of mine? Nature or nurture? My mother was a fine cook, and my parents were remarkably adventurous eaters. The running joke in our family is that they planned vacations around what to eat where, so I guess that answers some of the question.
So I'm obviously a LIVE TO EAT, but contrarily, I married an EAT TO LIVE, a guy whose philosophy is that you just have to put fuel in the body like you put gas in a car. And although there are some things that he really likes, I have NOT converted him over the years. Are these things set in childhood?
REDS and readers, which are you?
And is there one food that makes you swoon?
