I don’t know if I like food shows anymore. I used to. I used to watch Ken Hom do quick Asian dishes, I liked to look at Keith Floyd preparing robust dishes in exotic places, and I even watched the Barefoot Contessa and the luscious Nigella sneaking up to the fridge at midnight for a snack. For a while the Naked Chef kept me transfixed. And then one evening I suddenly felt that it was all getting a bit tedious and somehow empty. Yes, empty is the word I want to use.
Suddenly all I could see was how much waste was being created in the modern shows. Fantastic cuts of meat that most cannot afford, exotic things from all over being used to prepare glamour dishes, all of them obviously tasting like heaven (have you ever seen a chef tell you her dish tastes like horse manure?) and above all a mad rush to get it cooked in a short space of time to rush it to customers waiting somewhere. How could this food still be soul food? How could this be seen as working with respect with the bounty of the earth?
I think we have lost the art of cooking by rushing through the techniques for food preparation. Food is central to our well-being, and if it is rushed during preparation and consumption, it cannot be worth much, can it? Forget about the costs in dollars and cents.
I like shows where I can see where the meat comes from, even if it is just bought from a butcher that handles it with care as he folds it neatly in brown paper. Sometimes you can see that these people know that they are working with something that has given up life to sustain life. For no matter what we eat, we have to take some form of life. This demands respect. It asks that we treat the food with love and care. When we add the salt it is good to know that it comes from a sea shore somewhere where it was harvested by a family. Or do we just pour the NaCl from an industrial plant into the mix? I like to think that the fish I am preparing was harvested in a sensitive manner, that it was even farmed with regard for its life and that of the ecosystem it was embedded in.
Why would one rush through this process of preparing these offerings? The smell and texture of salmon mixed with fresh dill and the colour of good quality vegetables are all part of the process of satisfying our need for food. It is food. As the dish comes together and the smells merge slowly into deep aromas, it is time to take it in and to sip on a glass of wine. Stimulate all the senses and be satisfied at many levels. This is what food is now for me.
These days I am deliberate in how slowly I work with food. Not wasting time, but rather taking the time to do it right. I want to see food as ‘n whole experience, not just an industrial process aimed at feeding the gaping holes in the faces of the waiting masses. I want to see people talk at a table over the food that was prepared with love and dignity. They should share laughter, a glass of wine or a tumbler of rich golden beer while they enjoy the food. They should thank God for the richness we can explore these days and they must not waste food. Every bit should be considered as a source of nourishment. This is how we may be able to feed the world.
When we take our time with food preparation, when we build a certain slowness into the process of enjoying a meal and when we take the time to contemplate the meal with family and friends, then I believe it leaves us satisfied, full even. Maybe it is because I do not see this in the modern cooking shows that I feel so empty when I watch them.
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