I love food. From thinking through the flavours, textures, and nuances of different ingredients coming together, to shopping for those ingredients, the disciplines and art required to make the dish, the excitement of plating, and then the joy in tasting. Food is beautiful, calming, and exciting.
With the lingering tastes and smells from a breakfast with toast, butter, vegemite, sour cream, and cherry tomatoes, I find myself reflecting in the experience of the last bite. I know some of my ingredients (vegemite) may not bring the same experience to every reader. However, the process of imagining, bringing food to life, and then experiencing it with a wide range of senses is a wonder I love repeating.
Frequently a meal or disk reminds me of a relationship connection. S/he may have introduced the dish to me – this morning’s breakfast is a variation on my father’s favourite childhood breakfast – or a foundation to a great memory of the meal and conversation we shared.
Each meal is, in addition to the creating a wonder experience, a twofold trigger. First, I realise how fortunate and thankful I am to have the meal. So many are forced to make do without the joy food brings. Even to the point of their survival at risk, food remains just beyond their grasp. Second, I miss the people linked to the dish. I miss their voice, our conversation, the sense of their presence, and being able to break bread and share everything which follows.
In the first, I find myself echoing Paul’s words offered in a state of prayer, “And God, whom I so love to worship and serve by spreading the good news of his Son – the Message! – knows that every time I think of you in my prayers, which is practically all the time, I ask him to clear the way for me to come and see you.” (Romans 1.9, 10)
With the second, longing to be with you again, know I hope we share a table soon. In the interim, my best thoughts, hopes, and prayer are with you.
