How do I love thee, food? Let me count the ways. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Just call me Count Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Okay, I’m done with my dad jokes. But honestly, food is my passion, and not just because it’s the cool thing to do these days. With the rise of Instagram, it feels like being a “foodie” is just a trendy idea that results in likes and comments. Did you know there are actually people who purchase food with the sole intention of posting a photo and then they DON’T EAT IT?! I know. It’s insane to me too.
There’s a saying: Some people eat to live, others live to eat. If you’re in the first group, that’s totally cool. I’m not here to shame you- we all have different passions and loves in our lives. My mom’s is shoes. My dad’s is food, and so is mine. He’s a professional chef; a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. As a kid, my dad and I didn’t always have a lot to talk about, so we cooked instead. I’ve always been his sous chef, and family holidays were our time to shine in the kitchen.
I guess I’ve always loved to eat- part of that is my Jewish heritage (literally every holiday except one is about food)- but it didn’t really sink in for me just how much I loved it until I was in college. Junior year, I lived with four other young women. We were all poor and stressed, so on Sunday nights, I’d gather us around our large, round coffee table that functioned as a dining room table, with something cheap but delicious. Sometimes it was a giant pot of spaghetti with a side of salad and Olive Garden dressing, other times it was crispy BLTs. Whatever it was, we all put aside our jobs, piles of homework, and tiring internships to sit around that table and eat together.
These days, it’s really easy to just have everything done for you. Our glorious internet has taken the effort out of pretty much everything except exercising- that we still have to do ourselves. Need a new pair of shoes? Order 7 online and return what you don’t want. Sick and can’t go pick up medications? Hire a Taskrabbit or Postmates. Hungry and don’t feel like cooking? Have no fear, Seamless is here!
Look, I get it. I’m no stranger to these shortcuts. I understand the need for a break and just having someone else do it for you instead. The problem is that we’ve become lazy, especially in the kitchen. If you’re here in New York City like me, you look at your kitchen and think “ugh, you’re so small and cramped, I just don’t want to even try.” But I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way.
Feeding yourself is a beautiful thing. Feeding others is an extraordinary thing. There’s a reason that almost every culture’s traditions surround food. On a very basic level, we need food to live. On a much more complex level, food can bring us joy, it can bring us satisfaction, and more importantly, it can bring us together. And these days, our society could use a little more togetherness.
