recently, i have been gorging on montaigne. his ideas so
correspond to mine that i must insist on parading his name.
"The art of dining well is no slight art, the pleasure not a slight
pleasure. "
Michel de Montaigne
one of the few real pleasures in this world is eating. (which
should make us all compassionate to the hunger of so many
billions of people.), even if only out of the specious reaction
of guilt. guilt is an end in itself and doesn't lead to any
remedial action, only hiding. understanding and conscience move mountains.
i remember when i didn't finish my dinner, my father said, "eat
up… they are starving in china." (i never understood that), but i
would say, "then send my food to china."
i make a wild guess that 'first world' countries have about 5 %
of their population who have experienced real hunger at least
once in their lifetime. i have experienced it many times,
which gives me the authority to speak knowledgeably about it.
my experience is that suffering a lack of something often creates a real appreciation of it when the lack has been remedied.
all this just to introduce some more material from the
'koolaid house' which has somewhat suffered from the
self-centered auto-biographical posts of recent history here.
anyway, here i revert to a popular subject… food, and how to
value food, and its real benefit for health and happiness.
i know that the easiness of fast food has filled many a tummy and a kind of lazyness has overcome the will of many. i have experimented with devoting a certain amount of time to the realm of sustaining the body intelligently. one of my best discoveries was to filter the tap water. i feel better already. :happy:
always a lover of 'tempura' when dining out, i finally grabbed the bull by the horns and conquered what seemed an insurmountable difficulty using common ingredients. it turned out to be a paper tiger. no problem. it's fast and easy. just keep that boiling oil to 350 degrees farenheit and stand back. tempura rocks.
you can coat so many good vegetables with the batter and it makes the eating of vegetables a delight.
the batter must be kept chilled….
use your imagination with the dipping sauces… sweet and sour, tangy and peppery, salty tamari, astringent and nasal.
don't be afraid… just watch them to a golden brown then rescue them from the oil. absorb the excess oil somehow. i used biodegradable recycled paper towels. don't tell me the oil is going to kill you… just use a gentle vegetable oil… or safflower if you can afford it. canola is approved also. 
desert sauce simmers.
I know where my daughter is now, she is seeing true hunger….of all things….not just for food. I can truthfully say I experienced hunger once in my life when I was living with a true love (in my eyes). A monster in disguise who used my paycheck for other things instead of buying food. My dear sweet landlord put a head of cabbage and some cornedbeef in my fridge when she saw I had nothing in it. She also warned me that she saw other women coming and going. I cried, paid her the last month's rent and moved back to my parent's house for a while. I may very well try this tempura. You make it sound so easy.
Making food is a truly creative process, which I can tell you already know. Playfulness and the urge to experiment is what places foodmaking in the same category as painting, dancing and photography. Just examples.
Cooking "is a form of flattery….a mischievous, deceitful, mean and ignoble activity, which cheats us by shapes and colors, by smoothing and draping…."Plato (427-347 B.C.) Greek philosopher
"I like occasional fast food like a Big Mac. Fast food has its own unique taste — some of it good."I had not visited a fast food place for more than 10 years, I hear now they have menus that show calories… well I guess my curiosity for new taste is so great as long as it does not involve meat of mamals I will try it! even if it is from an exotic place and the ingredients have weird shape and name, one thing I never liked is sea cucumber…
Great post. I have to confess that I hate tempura. In fact I hate pretty much all Japanese cooking. I guess I must have unusual taste buds because I do know that most people do like the stuff. I have been much more into food over the past few years. I think that when the soul leaves the body we won't enjoy food any more, only the memory of food. So it's best to stock up the memories now I guess.I like occasional fast food like a Big Mac. Fast food has its own unique taste — some of it good.
Sea cucumber?
oh noas! * cold shower!! cold shower!!! * 😮 yes!
pam, i think one reason why i enjoy food so much now is because of hunger experienced in the past. i think my record was three days with nothing to eat. nobody knows what hunger can do to you until they experience it themselves. it really makes you crazy.allan,totally right about that. "Making food is a truly creative process."meli :heart:plato was no stoic. but he also was no epicurean.i think you would do best to eat at the "olive garden" lovely fresh salads. :happy:ed,i seldom break down and stop for 'fast food', i carry snacks in my pack. but when i do, that big mac is often what i get. but you know, i always feel a little sick afterwards.right now i like carl's junior's six dollar mushroom burger. yummmm. :happy:i might go get one right now. i got exhausted posting today. the story of s. really tires me out. can't face even making a sandwich.
That all looks so delicious! :up: I know what I'm having this week :happy:I don't care much for fast food. It's convenient when you're absolutely exhausted, or in a hurry, but I never feel good afterwards.Hunger? I can't imagine. I've fasted a day at a time, and sometimes a few days in a week, and that was hard. I got through it because I knew I'd be able to eat again the next day.
yep, it's the most powerful urge of all. and you hinted at the fact that i t can be worse when you don't know when you'll ever eat again. that's desperate.