My mother loved to eat well. She marveled at her meals and took great pride in preparing delicious food.
She would often say “we are good eaters”. I laughed, telling her that other families brag about the intellectual abilities of family members. but not about their relationship to food!
Now, I realize how right she had been; she saw how the ability to enjoy food was disappearing as people added more processed items to their diet or worried about the effects of eating on their waistline.
I recently came across an old book ‘Why French women don’t get fat’ and the author explains that they eat slowly and love food. They don’t see cooking as a chore and eating as a challenge.
How many years I wasted agonizing over food. Feeling guilty or feeling nothing as I shoveled in what I perceived as a ‘good’ food.
I have returned to my European habits and love to cook again. And the pleasure is back. Mindfulness with eating makes you savor every bite and notice all the flavors. Sometimes they are not working in harmony, but instead of just accepting it, I stop eating. Time is running out for this 67 year old and I am not wasting a moment on the meals that don’t wow!
There is a lot of wonderful food out there. And we live in a time when there is a lot of choice of a lot of different cuisines. Take some time to explore and decide what you do like.
One of my best childhood memories is making mayonnaise with my mother. She had gone with some girlfriends to Paris and fell in love with French food. I remember her instructing me to drizzle in the olive oil as she carefully whisked by the hand the emulsion that would create her final product. It shocked me, and still does, how different home made mayonnaise is from the sweet pale version sold in jars. She put it over hard boiled eggs and we listened to french music as she told us about her trip.
Food is an act of love, it is about how we sit, share and connect.
I am celebrating the fact and proudly declaring “I am a great eater” . Thanks mum for reminding me that it is a great gift and a wonderful skill.
Thanks for reading
Christina