Food makes me giddy.
I was cutting a lime the other day and I had to stop and just breathe in the smell until the rush subsided and my brain settled down. Smell and taste are entwined with all my brain pleasure centers, and with memory as well. (For me, the smell of limes IS Mexico, layers and years of experiences, sights and sounds and tastes, all in one little sniff.)
Fresh herbs give me the same burst. So does the scent of Earl Grey tea. And the taste of vegetables! Last Sunday I made caponata, with little pale purple eggplants, tomatoes, red onion, garlic, lots of parsley, lemon zest, capers, green olives, olive oil, and a splash of wine vinegar. The first day, I ate it just like in this photo, on toasted fresh bakery sourdough with extra olive oil. It was heaven. (And I ate caponata every day until it was all gone.)
I've always been fascinated by what people eat. When I travel, when I read historical novels, or novels set in unfamiliar places, I always want to know what people eat, or ate. Lately, I've been reading a book called The Blue Zones Solution, about the foods eaten by the longest-lived and healthiest people in the world. So interesting! (And I can tell you that there are no Golden Arches...)
I read cookbooks for fun, even though I know there are lots of things I will never get around to trying, because to me food is stories, and language.
Where does this come from, I wonder, this obsession of mine? Nature or nurture? My mother was a fine cook, and my parents were remarkably adventurous eaters. The running joke in our family is that they planned vacations around what to eat where, so I guess that answers some of the question.
So I'm obviously a LIVE TO EAT, but contrarily, I married an EAT TO LIVE, a guy whose philosophy is that you just have to put fuel in the body like you put gas in a car. And although there are some things that he really likes, I have NOT converted him over the years. Are these things set in childhood?
REDS and readers, which are you?
And is there one food that makes you swoon?
I think I’m definitely a “Live to Eat” person who likes most foods and enjoy cooking.
ReplyDeleteIt almost goes without saying that dark chocolate is a go-to food; otherwise, as far as the swoon-worthy foods around here are concerned, it’s a toss-up between bacon and real macaroni and cheese . . . .
Joan, I am almost always having my daily dark chocolate when I read your first comment!
DeleteI also go with the Live to Eat philosophy.
ReplyDeleteLife is too short for mediocre food! And I love tp travel and eating food unique to the region or country is a great way to experience different cultures.
I enjoy cooking and second after my mystery book collection are my cookbooks. But i also follow a lot of food blogs and use Yummly and Pinterest a lot to search for recipes. And I grow a wide variety of herbs and salad greens on my balcony, yum.
My swoon-worthy food is also good artisan chocolate followed by gelato.
I do like chocolate, really I do, but it's not one of my swoon-worthy foods. I might put Hagen Daz Rum Raisin ice cream on my list, though. And this weekend I may try a new vanilla ice cream recipe from Milk Street magazine that sounds divine--made with creme fraiche. How could it not be divine?
DeleteLive to eat, for sure. Right now I'm swooning over that caponata, and plotting to make some as soon as my Asian eggplants get big enough to pick. Will you post the recipe, pretty please? I swoon for a big ripe peach, a sun-warmed tomato on the vine, a crisp just-picked sugar snap pea. Yes, we're finally in fresh produce season here in New England. And I'm making the best of it!
ReplyDeleteEdith, is one of Robin Ellis's (the first Poldark!) Here's the link: https://robin-ellis.net/2011/04/29/caponata-sicilian-aubergine-wonder/
DeleteI love this little cookbook (Delicious Dishes for Diabetics). And you don't have to be diabetic to enjoy it.
I remember my mother's bedside table was loaded with cookbooks... YES, of course I'm a live to eat girl. Fresh summer fruit has me in its clutches right now. Plums. Eastern peaches are just in. Cherries cherries cherries. And YES to fresh herbs (my basil is glorious) and lime.
ReplyDeleteI have been on a parsley binge the last few weeks, just eating it. Italian, not the yucky curly stuff. It's funny, but my daughter, who loves cilantro, cannot stand parsley. Any other parsley haters out there? A definite disadvantage if you like French and Mediterranean cooking.
DeleteI adore the curly French stuff but cilantro tastes like a particularly toxic brand of soap in my mouth.
DeleteLive to eat, definitely, though my low sodium diet has cramped my style a little. I'm figuring out how to work around it...cherries, definitely, good cantaloupe, local peaches, ripe avocados, garden tomatoes, roasted beets. I'm afraid I've gotten a little nutty about homemade cake too:).
ReplyDeleteDebs, I'm very interested in that Blue Zones idea. Has it steered you in any directions we should know about?
I forgot avocados! I definitely swoon for a perfectly ripe avocado.
DeleteLucy, I first read about this in Nat Geo a couple of years ago. Fascinating!! It's not just about diet, but about the lifestyles of these groups, and how we can translate those things into our own lives. One interesting food/diet thing I've learned, both in reading about Blue Zones and the latest Alzheimer's prevention research, is that coffee is super good for you. I've just treated myself to an espresso machine--arriving tomorrow!
DeleteEdith, I am with you on the avocados. With fresh squeezed lime juice, of course:-)
DeleteOh, and Lucy, one of my low-salt tricks: I keep a jar of coarse French gray sea salt right out on the kitchen counter. I've discovered that just sprinkling a few grains on veggies or salads makes them taste like heaven without really adding much salt.
DeleteSo hideously hot and humid in Cincinnati, I live to eat cherries and what ever else is affordable (South Carolina peaches at 70 cents each!), usually with luscious Trader Joe's Greek yogurt.
ReplyDeleteANYTHING is good with Trader Joe's Plain Greek Yogurt! On my shopping list today, in fact. I was getting yogurt from a local farm, but they had a fire in their yogurt making room, so it will be awhile before they get things rebuilt. but, boy, their plain yogurt is swoonable!
DeleteHave you ever tried making your own yogurt? I used to do that weekly, back when I was working and living on the stuff.
DeleteAnn, my mom used to make her own. She even had a yogurt maker. I've been thinking that when Wolf Creek (the local dairy) is producing again, I might use some of theirs as a starter. We also get fabulous milk from another local dairy, so I'd use that.
DeleteAlso a Live to Eat gal married to an Eat to Live guy. My husband barely tastes food unless I call his attention to it. Except when he decides he doesn't like something. How is that possible? LOL
ReplyDeleteDebs, I'm also liable to stop and inhale the fragrance, especially if it is basil from my garden, garlic (I had a big harvest this year, almost five dozen big, beautiful heads), thyme, or whatever is offering its scent to me.
This time of year I look for sweet corn (off to the farmers market in a few minutes for a load), juicy ripe tomatoes, and all the berries we grow at the farm: wild blackberries galore, and now the raspberry canes have exploded with fruit. The strawberries didn't produce much this spring after I moved them, but I'm hoping for a better second harvest. Warm from the sun, what is better than a ripe strawberry?
My favorite veggie dish this time of year takes advantage of all the things that ripen at once. Squash, eggplant, onions, garlic, green and red peppers, tomatoes, and basil, all cooked together. I call it vegetable olio; it's not quite a ratatouille, but it's delicious.
we had the best strawberry crop ever this year! but would love some of your raspberries please...And corn, absolutely!!
DeleteKaren, yum. And I envy your berries. Our Texas blackberries and blueberries have not been as good as usual this year--maybe too much rain. And our Texas peach crop is not great either:-(
DeleteKaren, my husband has very definite dislikes, too, while I have hardly any (except for processed stuff.) Isn't that interesting? If food is just fuel, it seems like you would just eat anything.
DeleteThat's me, as well. I'm an adventurous eater, and will try most things. I'm not especially fond of organ meats, or very bland foods. However, I enjoy things some people refuse to eat, or that taste bad to others, like cilantro, garlic, etc.
DeleteAnd it is mystifying, how people who don't much care can still really care.
Ah, you foodophiles! I love good cooking, and I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen as well as enjoying a good meal with friends. (I would have helped with that caponata, Debs!) My work schedule, however, often dictates that I'm an eat-to-live person. Yesterday, for example, I had the unique pleasure of reminding myself that the Filet-O-Fish at McDonalds is just as . . . yeah . . . as I remember. Edible, but only barely palatable. I was hungry, I didn't have much time, and McD is right across the street. I suppose, if I was working from home, and had time to check on progress in the oven between other tasks, I might turn to more complex things, but during the week my food mantra is mostly, "What can I eat in 15 minutes, now that the dogs are fed?" Add to that the fact that there are some foods I simply cannot digest, and I find my tastes bend toward simple fare: roast chicken, pot roast, anything I can wrap a tortilla around.
ReplyDeleteFresh fruit is always a go-to, though. Grapes in the spring and summer, nectarines and cherries; tart, crisp apples in the fall; oranges and dried apricots in winter. They all go well with cheese, and often that's what I wind up eating in that 15-minute time frame, late in the evening after work--a small bowl of nuts, cheese, and whatever fruit is in season.
Pizza! Peaches. BAcon!And our front yard hedge is lush with blooming pink thyme--it is amazing!
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed. Bacon is SO hard to grow! xox
DeleteI love it when we talk about food.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely and steadfastly in the Live to Eat group, as is Donald.
Every trip we've ever taken seems to be remembered in terms of what we ate. I, however, am the only one who shows the effects of all those wonderful meals while Donald stays as skinny a a stringbean.
Cookbooks on the nightstand - yes! Pat Conroy's cookbook lives on my nightstand. I can't tell you how often over the years I've reached over to grab it either for a recipe or for one of his richly written essays.
And Hank, I'm dying to see your hedge of thyme!
Strawberries, blueberries, cherries, tomatoes, green beans, yum.
ReplyDeleteMy small daily dose of the darkest chocolate I can find. With a cup of tea, it's heavenly.
Also, nuts. I love nuts. My favorite breakfast is plain Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries and/or strawberries, plus a handful of nuts(walnuts, pecans, almonds) and a dash of cinnamon. It's easy to eat at work, and I enjoy every mouthful.
DebRo
One of my faves, too, but I haven't added cinnamon. Will try that!
DeleteCooking is my second passion, right after reading. For the past few months Julie has been watching cooking shows after I go to bed to read, and she has discovered some doozy recipes. I have trouble following recipes, always having to elaborate on them a bit. But I am very good at substitutions what I have for what I'd need from the grocery store. Definitely fresh veggies and fruit all year, but they are best when from our own farmer's market.
ReplyDeleteLocal peaches aren't in yet, and the Georgia ones are a buck a pop. These we buy a couple of a time so that they get eaten forthwith. It's been a cool rainy summer, and our patio tomatoes are burgeoning, but nothing is ripe yet. I even have three volunteer plants that have come up!
I'm with you Deb. There is nothing like the smells of summer.
I eat to live. While I watch some shows on Food Network and other cooking shows, I'm not moved to try and become a master cook with artfully arranged food on a plate. I like the aesthetics of those shows but that's it.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE a great cheeseburger. It is hard to find a place that makes a great one. One that when I sink my teeth into it, I practically moan with food envy as the food hits my taste buds. Nice crispy bacon on top would be nice too.
Nothing like a good burger, Jay!
ReplyDeleteWell, I was all set to go to the farmer's market this morning for Asian eggplants and farm tomatoes--and it's raining. Again.
ReplyDeleteI am not a food swooner, although I do plan places I want to eat at on my vacations! My favorite cuisine is Mexican and right now my fave is green chili soup - just the chilies, no meat. I make a big batch, put it in quart jars and keep it in the fridge. It's good for breakfast with a couple fried eggs floating on top, or another meal with a couple toasted corn tortillas crumbled into it and a dollop of sour cream. I'm glad I like to cook or I'd probably eat cereal all the time.
ReplyDeleteI'm also in the Live to Eat category. Bob, my wonderful husband of 30 years (this September) is in the same camp, but my youthful indiscretion first husband was an Eat-to-Live guy, and I'm convinced it was a big part of our basic incompatibility.
ReplyDeleteMy foods to swoon over seem pretty similar to everyone else's: love avocados, fresh asparagus, strawberries, really ripe cantaloupe, cherries. In the winter, I'm a soup lover. Pretty much October through April, I make a big pot of soup every weekend, and take leftovers of it in my lunch two or three days the following week. I love how cooking together in a soup pot melds all the disparate flavors to create something new and unique. I suspect I have enough soup recipes I would never have to repeat one in a winter, but of course I do repeat favorites from time to time.
Susan, yes, me, too! I may be all summer veggies now, but as soon as there is the first hint of fall in the air it will be soup soup soup in our house. The possibilities are endless, and I love having the leftovers for lunch.
ReplyDeleteI get great pleasure from food, love buying, preparing and eating it. Truly a pleasure of life. However...
ReplyDeleteDue to a stew of medical problems, cholesterol, blood pressure but mostly diabetes, I have been forced to become a "eat to live" person. No sugars, so all fruit is out, all sweets of any kind. Carbs are limited to the equivalent of a slice of toast in a whole day (though I can't have that, the carbs sneak in with other things. So no bread, pasta, starchy veggies, etc. No grains. Meals are just something I have to have to keep going, and snacks are nonexistent, except a stalk of celery in the afternoon. It's really grim. I very much envy all of you who can enjoy all the wonderful things you describe in the post.
Rick, you might want to have a look at the book I mentioned above, Robin Ellis's Delicious Dishes for Diabetics. Robin was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes quite a few years ago and has adopted his cooking style accordingly. I'm not diabetic but his little book is one of my favorite go-tos. Everything I've tried really is delicious.
DeleteRick, I am totally sympathetic with the problem of a medical issue curtailing food joy. The first time a friend suggested that I would really be able to taste the food without salting it, I just stared at her. Maybe I even had murderous thoughts in my mind LOL I will take a look at Deb's friends toO...
DeleteDeb, thanks for the suggestion, I really appreciate it. I'll certainly look at a copy. I'm just having so much trouble keeping my glucose number down, I think insulin injections are soon to be necessary.
DeleteDo I have to be one or the other? Definitely NOT an eat to live- food has to be enjoyed & is more than fuel! But I don't live to eat, either. More like i want to enjoy what I eat, then move on to the next activity. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteThat makes perfect sense to me, Judy. Good food is a great joy when I have the time to savor, but it is not an end in itself.
DeleteLive to eat and love to cook. Deb, I know exactly what you mean about scent. We were in the Costco yesterday and I was overwhelmed by the peaches. I didn't buy them. I knew the tray was too large for the two of us to consume, but I stood off to the side of the display breathing. The scent took me back to my Virginia days when we picked peaches straight from the trees and canned, jammed, jellied, baked, pied, turnovered, and and ice creamed the fruit every summer. A wondrous, brief vacation in a suburban Costco store.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely description, Kait!
DeleteI'm for sure a live to eat person. I had to laugh at your statement, Debs, about your parents planning vacations about what to eat and where. I always check out what restaurants and types of food are available for wherever I'm going, and if it's a car trip, I check out where to stop along the way. My biggest nightmare (not really, of course) is stopping to eat somewhere bland, or heaven forbid a fast food place, and then right down the road is a lovely, charming inn. My husband would stop just to put food into his body, which is so not the point with me. I love going out to eat with friends because we go for the experience as well as the food. But, the food must be delightful, too.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about what food or foods make me swoon, it's often from my growing up days (still). Since I was just talking about fresh green beans with someone, I would have to include fresh green beans fixed in a pressure cooker with bacon grease and a touch of sugar. It is indeed a heavenly taste. Put fresh tomatoes on a plate with that, and I'm a most happy camper. I first ate these green beans when my mother fixed them, which brings me to her dressing balls and gravy, too. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mother always fixed the dressing into balls and baked it that way. It was delicious, with her gravy, but the best part (and I still dream about this) was going into the kitchen and taking out a couple of dressing balls (she made oodles of them, so even in a large family there were leftovers) and warming them up in her gravy on a pan on the stove. I can picture myself doing this now and sitting down to the most scrumptious fare ever I've known.
Desserts aren't as swoon worthy for me, but the one that is my go-to delicious taste of the past and present is the transparent pie, or the small pies we call transparent puddings. It is a very regional dessert, created in the community of Maysville, KY, where I grew up, and the bakery where we bought them still makes them. Yes, I do indeed visit that bakery when I go home for a visit.
Kathy, how are the pies/puddings "transparent?"
DeleteAnd I think dressing balls sound wonderful. Made with cornbread, right?
I'm definitely in the "live to eat" category. I'm currently experiencing a summer produce bonanza: cherries, nectarines, plucots, berries, temptation melons. WA state and the market have spoiled me. I also love chocolate and sweets and butter. Butter's a food group, right?
ReplyDeleteI did just start reading a book recommended by a friend called, "How Not to Die," which is all about how our diets can make a huge difference in our health, particularly in terms of chronic diseases. I'm not that far in to it, but the upshot is that a plant-based diet. Is pasta plant-based? I'd love to have a pasta-based diet!
I'm a Live to Eat (or maybe Live to Cook) person. I don't love fruit, but I love to make jams and preserves. The apricot-jalapeno jam was a big hit this year, and the spicy mango chutney. I haven't made watermelon rind pickles for years, but I will be doing them next month. This morning I made 18 half-pints of sweet red cherry jam. The house smells lovely.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely a live to eat person and I too am paired with an eat to live person. If it's something healthy and good for him, he eats it, and I'm like, "but do you like it?" and he's like "I'm not sure, but that's not the point." ��
ReplyDeleteI have a question about your fairy eggplant: Do you peel them for your caponata or just cook them with the skins? I get them in my CSA box (although they haven't shown up quite yet, but will be soon) and I want to try the caponata since it sounds delicious, minus the olives for me since they are one of the few foods I don't like. Peeling those little fairy eggplants would be quite the chore, wouldn't it?
Amy, I don't peel them. The skin is meltingly tender once they are cooked.
DeleteI'm more of an eat to live person and I do my best to eat whole foods rather than processed, but I completely disagree with the idea of eating something solely because a study concludes that something is healthy. I'm lukewarm on kale but do actually love swiss chard and spinach so I eat those instead. I'm not eating chia seeds either. I got caught up in the "margarine is healthier than butter" phase in the 1980's and after forcing myself to prefer the taste for a year or two (gack--margarine tastes GHASTLY!) I gave up and follow my food preferences. I'm a big believer in eating what feels good in my body. I unapologetically drink black tea over green and herbal teas too.
Delete