Introduction to Food

I haven’t found the right quote to encapsulate my thoughts and philosophy for food in an apt, concise and a succinct formula. My relationship with food is somewhat fraught with agony; with thoughts oscillating between eating for pleasure or eating for sustenance. I probably am the last person to comment about food, to explain and sensualise the taste of “ripen red tomatoes that looked like glistening rubies against the light and its taste which delicately hold the contrast between sour and sweet”, or to wax and obliterate any food that is served to me with words. Like short lines of poetry, voluptuous serving size is not a perquisite to enjoy food, rather slow and meditative nibbles reveal a lot of the deeper interpretations and senses related to it.

Therefore, an essay about food could be part of a story of my life, a social commentary, a plot to a story, a historical account, an autobiography, a political satire, a mythical allusion or philosophy; which goes beyond a visceral description and an account of the tasting sensation. That said, food is food, at its most rudimentary aspect, one should savour all its deliciousness and mustn’t avoid to describe its fundamental characters; but on a higher intellectual plane, food can be a metaphor to comment and expand on important aspects of life and existence.

If I could have one dish to eat for the rest of eternity in Paradise, it would be tiramisu, particularly the one at Alexis. Battles were fought and countless lives were lost in the quest for control of the world’s most prized possessions, coffee and chocolate, embodied in one delightful dessert. Alexis’ tiramisu doesn’t look like the atypical tiramisu; which usually is encased in a translucent dessert cup with a whiff of chocolate sprinkled at the top. No, no, no. The first sight that catches my eyes are the crystallized almonds that surrounds the piece of cake, enticing you to the mystery of this iteration of the famous dessert. That’s quite a story, isn’t it?

At the heart of my writing, I weave a story. Food writing is a tricky craft to master, transferring words to form sensations for the reader needs a particular skill in choosing the right adjectives from an extensive vocabulary. Nevertheless, I am learning this craft diligently and intend to make my food writing an enjoyable and pleasurable read for my readers.