For my first post, I thought I would focus on what I find to be the essence of eating food, deep personal satisfaction. No matter what you chose to eat invariably the dishes and ingredients you are drawn to hold great significance. You could simply love the taste or the contrast in textures, or your reasons can be more intimate drawing upon childhood memories, a sense of home and tradition.
Regardless the motivation, we all have a group of foods we are consistently returning to, which begs the question, what would your last meal be?
Photographer Melanie Dunea attempts to get at the heart of this question in her touching and wonderfully crafted book, My Last Supper.
In her collecton of portraits, interviews and recipes, with top chefs of our time, Dunea manages to capture the softer side (the spirit if you will) of these giants. What we find is a lot less pretension and a lot more heart. Interestingly enough, many chefs chose rather simple dishes, compared to the skill of the individual, such as Helene Darroze's "My Friend Suzie's Best French Fries In the World." Others are more lofty and whimsical like Ferran Adria's "Cod Foam With Honey-Flavored Baby Onions." Either way the common threads in each interview were the themes of home and family.
What this tells me is that the "last supper" is less about the ultimate gourmet experience but more a celebration of the sensory memories that bind us into communities. eating apple pie isn't as basic as eating. When you take a bite of a a beloved food you are transported. within that one bite you can experience a lifetime of happiness, heartache, change, growth and love.
I think Dunea would agree with me that when we reflect upon our last meal, what we select says a lot about who we are.
As for me, I think I would like to be sent off with a pear and guyere tart encased in a flaky crust of peppercorn pastry served with a glass of brillant reisling...a couple dollaps of unsweetened whipped cream wouldn't be unwelcome either. What would you chose?
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James, cannot wait to join in your food adventures....one of my favorite foods is oatmeal....Dominick A
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, if you have a chance sometime to read it if you haven't already, I would love to see an entry about it!
ReplyDeleteyou sound like an adorable male version of julia child! i am so glad you have a food blog now!
ReplyDeletep.s. my dish would probably be that fabulous spicy macaroni and cheese with shallots I made for Christmas 2 years ago paired with a delicious red wine perhaps the cabernet from Australia Au? yum!
Hey Jerms....
ReplyDeleteI love you and what a wonderful thing you are doing. You know I have a love for food that many people do not know that I have. Though you have a more tredy palete and I am more simple and enjoy more latin foods and fruits I have learned a lot from you.
oh I forgot one of my favorite dishes.... plaintain muffins... warm with cinnimon butter
ReplyDeleteWhat fascinates me is how, when put into that mortal situation, even hypothetically, triggers us to access what, in our range of experiences, has the strongest sentimental meaning. So many of the last meals you highlighted from the book still seem like an attempt on the part of the writing food personality to represent themselves, either sentimentally, or their careers. I wonder why more people wouldn't seize it as an opportunity to try something they've never had before, seeing it as a single chance for that rare slice of fish or impossibly found truffle?
ReplyDeleteBut in answering this question I still find that I too must draw upon my history. I think we would pick a food the way we would make any final decision... with the great unknown of death looming before us, the uncertainty of whats to follow, we seek the food that makes us feel human, that establishes our history, that cements our presence in this world.
For that reason I choose sweet ginger spaghetti. A whole pot full. This food is beyond the taste experience, though the sweetness cutting the tomato's tartness, and the depth added by the ginger, are definitely delicious-- but more importantly it is a food that has comforted me and excited me my entire life!
To drink... Diet Coke. Or maybe my last regular Pepsi.