OK. I admit that title sounds weird, but… bear with me.
Stories are universal to every culture, every language. We tell stories to educate, to explain, to entertain, to warn and even to punish. We woo with stories, we rear our children with them. And some of the most poignant stories of all, we eat.
We tell a tale of generations from mother to daughter, son, sister… father to son, to niece, to grandchild. The perfect Miso, like Okasama made. The Poi that your boyfriend fed you on your first date. The lamb stew that came from County Wicklow when great-great-nana immigrated. The Gajar Halwa that you had first at a wedding as a child. The food is a story that continues to evolve just a tiny bit with every telling, that gets a bit of embellishment with generations, but remains a thread of the tale and maps out the history of family, friends, culture, religion.
Food is a welcome mat that we put out as families and as people. Our personal traditions, our songs, our clothes… these are things that we can become jealous of, and which can be appropriated all too easily…. but with our food we say “join us. Eat the story, and know our tale.”
It’s no wonder that we incorporate food into our rituals, be it a metaphorical consumption of body and blood in Christian communion, a symbolic nourishing of friendships through the breaking and offering of bread, a moment to remember our dead with dishes left out for the spirits. The taking in of the food, in all its history and significance, links us together, and allows us to take in a part of those we meet. I cook this for you, I share with you my story, my reality. Eat of this, and hear me with your body.
I am visiting Chicago this week for the audio publisher’s annual convention, and sharing the food of this sub culture. By any realistic definition this is the SAME culture that exists in my home state of New York. 21st century, American, largely European and African descent, Asian and Latino influences, tourists and business people. Busy lives….. but the tastes are so different in their similarity. When I sit down to a meal here, it tells me new stories. I may not even understand them, but I let them carry me along anyway.
That’s why, when I travel, I follow the Tao of Bourdain* … walk the streets, smell the smells, eat the food, say thank you and accept seconds if offered. Savor the differences, even if they aren’t to your taste, because they are a new story to experience.
Cheers, and .. bon appetit!
*(Anthony Bourdain, chef, writer and travel host)