My 5 favorite things about food (part 1)
What you learn through food.
My love for food is a secrete for absolutely nobody. Food excites me….so much. But I also have a deep respect for its hidden powers. I discovered food and stayed is the true depiction of how food impacted me when I needed something to hang on to or when I expected least.
Here is one of my favorite things about food:
It is the best way to learn!
Flavors
Food takes so many forms and shapes that it becomes the most convincing teacher. This teacher will show you how complex flavor association can be and how even describing what you have on your tongue can feel difficult — talking about Umami — still not clear to me. But by trying to get there, you learn how to develop your senses and reach this kind of understanding much quicker. On the other side, food will also show you that simplicity is powerful. Like that single strawberry, hand-picked from your neighbor's garden, that tastes like the most delicious thing you had in years. Food is such as good reflection of our world: so complex yet holding simple treasures.
Values
Without realizing it, so many important values can be learned through being around food:
Respect for the beautiful products that are made available to you but also for the people who worked hard, not only to produce them but to enable you to have access to them (thanks mum and dad).
Patience because everything does not come right away into your belly as you wish or imagine it. Whether it is about growing or cooking, patience here is key to obtaining the result you are looking for. For a restless person like me, it is a true lesson learned.
and many more.
Academics
Aside from teachings about flavors and the development of important values, food also takes you right back to school:
Chemistry takes a large place in baking and pastry, the best chefs spend hours learning about what happens when you mix certain ingredients in order to be able to create foams, souflés, and more.
Biology lets you understand how your fruits and veggies grow, how vital the sun, soil, and water are in this process. It also tells you what you can eat or not and how your digestive system transforms a delicious risotto into the energy that takes you swimming in the cold cold Amsterdam canals.
Mathematics helps you when you try to turn that 4 people recipe into 1 because you are making that delicious risotto just for your delicious self. (Not your style? just have a look at my previous article and give yourself some love.)
Yourself
Food is also a fantastic way to learn about yourself. Yes, try and put yourself in a kitchen for a day and see what comes out. Are you following the recipe step by step without steering once from the cooking book? Are you the throw-the-book-and-go-through-the-spice-pantry-first kind of cook? Are you impatient like me? Or are you willing to do everything 10 times to make it perfect? Is taste the most important to you or do you get excited by making the plate look ravishing?
Most of these things will not be very different from how you address challenges and life in general. If your kitchen feels like a safe environment, let food teach you about who you are.
Identity
You have so much to learn about the food you grew up with. The food you and your ancestors grew up eating is a fundamental part of your identity. Going back to your roots discovering the why and how of what is consumed in your family and country is such a precious path to understanding your own whys and hows.
Next to this deeper understanding of where you come from, you can also use food as a bridge toward understanding other cultures. How other people treat food, what ingredients and methods matter to them is such a rich way to travel.
I discovered recently a ranking of the best cuisines in the world. This is such bullshit, travel a little and you will discover that one country's food is rarely better than another, it simply cannot be compared without considering the context it lies in. The truth lies in discovering how differently amazing it can be.
And there is so much more. Food is an incredible tool to learn, not only as a child but also as a full grown-up. Each time you put food in your mouth or simply think about it, is a chance to grow. Yes, Robert, read my articles, you might learn a thing or two.
