The Status of Food

 Image of MaituFoods "Green Gold" Salad Ingredients

Think of what today's society considers delicacies. Food-like substances, poor food combinations,  and the decadent, degenerative palette of the so called prosperous. When we really begin to examine the culture of food associated with wealth, or really a monetarily and possession rich status, I begin to wonder if someone, somewhere is playing a joke. No really, are our taste and health sensibilities being "punk'd"? A diet of excess leads to disease, a diet of decadence leads to deterioration , improper food-combining (which is common) leads to imbalance. So great, its wonderful that we can afford that great cut of choice meat, all and anything that one can desire to eat can be theirs. Yet, that prime cut or that gmo soy product cannot be properly assimilated by your beautifully orchestrated and designed body, so it sits, cajoling dis-ease. Couple that with a life of mental acuity with little to no physical dexterity and we find that true wealth won't last that long. Then the status of our health measured up to the status of our wealth (which is drastically changing) begins to see a huge inequality on the scales. Where are our priorities when we fight to be the richest country and our citizens remain the most health impoverished? And it has become our excess, our love for the richness (seemingly) that has paved the way to our poverty. Then in turn has wrecked havoc in all arenas of life and livelihood.

Look at the simplicity of nature. Without trifle it consumes, regenerates, decays and lives in harmony and balance. So much so that its life cycle ensures the livelihood of all others in its environment. A true model of richness, a real status of wealth and abundance. So really what is the ultimate standard of living? What are we working towards? Where does our true wealth lie and what status are we truly reaching for? Love.



My Kitchen Sounds Like: "Poor and Clean" by Gregory Isaacs

Sharing the LOVE experience

Life offers up opportunity to remember the importance of interconnectedness. Indeed, such opportunity also offers the chance to understand more about self. I find in my relationships, the conversations and the moments of experiences therein give a richness that color life in a whole other way than the vastness of internal beauty and self conversation. I suppose that line, in and of itself, exemplifies how much I like my world, especially the internal one. However, moments with my friends, children and in respect to this moment, my mate, offer up an understanding unique to that person and/or opportunity. A uniqueness of experience and perspective that I may not have come to on my own.

Oftentimes because of the nature of "work", or more so service that my family does, our conversations lead to ideas of love. Love for our service, our creativity, our community, family and self. My mate hip me to the renewed realization of the intimacy of sharing and serving food and food experiences in the manner that I (we) do. It's true, in as personal and private as I am, with my customers, who are really like family members I share a very intimate, close relationship, perhaps unbeknownst to even them. But in each dish, each meal experience, I am tailoring it with my thoughts, my stories, my favorite music. Essentially I am imbuing it with my love. There are glimpses of my romanticism, hints of my sensuality and tenderness. I would like to believe its colored by my creativity and marked by my sense of responsibility and work ethic. I am dedicated and fulfilled in a sense. I am sharing, giving out my love. I am grateful for you who choose to receive. Love.




My Kitchen Sounds Like: "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Nina Simone

ReSEARCH

Travel is great for the palette. There are tastes from the Caribbean, Dubai and Kenya that have found their way to my plate and in my food memory bank. For those times when travel is not possible in the moment, research is the next best thing. Whenever food is beginning to become "stale", we pick a country, a technique, a food memory, or regional food/dish and hop in the truck and go on a food field trip as I like to call them. Yes, its true, they are not the same as having the authenticity that one may receive from say being in the region, with the atmosphere and people. These opportunities however allow me to have what I choose and still have the open experiences of the chef/restaurant offering up their interpretation of home and what that means to them. I almost exclusively stick to family restaurants, no chains, no fast food joints. When I can, I talk with the Chef, get to know them and if the vibe offers, ask to be taught what I love on their menu. In turn my food experience becomes richer, therefore hopefully ensuring that what I am then able to share is that much more rich and varied.  I am able to share (hopefully) the best parts of my enrichment. The excitement, the textures and colors that stood out, the tastes..oh yeah...the tastes. I can offer my own variation of it all in a way that is familiar and intimate to me. Just last month alone I believe we tried over 60 different dishes and techniques based on our research. In as much as I do this, I live this. And that essentially is my training, a training that only grows. These 2 weeks our "research" has included Southern Indian, Ethiopian, Chinese and Trinidadian. Fun times behind, even more fun times ahead. Love.



My Kitchen Sounds Like: "Around the World In A Day" by Prince                                     

Yummy Bites/Gursha

Recently I have been exploring food culture and rituals with our children. Connecting ideas of unity, consideration, sharing, community and respect for the importance of the moment. Through personal experience and study, I am constantly reacquainted with the Ethiopian ritual of Gursha. Gursha which translates as "mouthful" is the act of hand feeding another. With a heightened sense of awareness this act of Gursha conveys much more than the seemingly simple act of sharing food. Within this ritual lies principles of trust, thoughtfulness and interconnectedness. What a perfect lesson and experience to teach young children. It is my understanding that the traditional practice of Gursha is a means of expressing openness. In our interactions we are essentially "ingesting", sharing and/or being exposed to one anther's presence, essence, aura, personality, words, etc. In each exchange there is potential for trust, indeed, vulnerability. On one hand, receiving Gursha is to be vulnerable and trusting of the hands and the person that is serving. In exchange, to be the giver expresses trustworthiness, tenderness, selflessness and consideration. The physical manifestation of Gursha is a bridge to connect the subtleties of spirit and senses. Now..how to explain that to 2-5 year olds.

Children are, (at least mine are) very aware of what they like. So we start there. Find the yummiest bite on your plate. Make it up, just the way you like it. How you want to see it. What you want it to taste and feel like. Make it the best bite ever. Now before you place it in your mouth, find someone at the table you enjoy sharing with. Now give them your yummy bite. Yeah..give it...its OK. Now, how did that make each of you feel?

These rituals we hold onto and carry forward with the hope that the experiences, the lessons can transcend beyond the dinner table and extend to and influence how we relate to one another in life. Cheers to yummy bites and the sharing thereof. Love


My Kitchen Sounds Like: "Perdido" by Duke Ellington

Grow Where You Are

Grow Where You Are! Both a challenge and a call to a higher standard of being. In the 2nd edition of the aptly titled reader by Eugene Cooke, we find a manual for not only gardening, but for a way of life intent on expressing itself to its fullest capacity. Mother Nature, well she is the vessel of receptivity and nurturing. Grow Where You Are the reader is creativity, imagination and practicality, stretched out on a canvas. Digestible for any and everyone. More than an how to guide of Urban Farming, it is a shared experience of a man intimate with the Earth.

Filled with images, ideas and experiences from Eugene's 20+ years journey in Farming, it's one in the same, art, poetry and a glimpse into Eugene's expertise. More importantly, (at least to me) we get a view of Nature's playground through the eyes of an artist who finds his home in the soil.

A work that one can return to again and again. Grow Where You Are is fun, it's engaging, it's a stimulus. Get one, Read it and Grow.

website: www.gebsite.com
Facebook: Grow Where You Are
Twitter: @Gebsite



My Kitchen Sounds like: "Harvest for the World" by The Isley Brothers

The Palette of Family

Our grandparent and parents had the formula. Intrinsic in each culture, and instilled through habit is the knowledge of using foods to heal and console. It was the hot soup or strong toddy when a cold was coming on. Aloe Vera and pumpkin seeds to expel intestinal worms. Oatmeal and milk baths for rashes. Its found in the precise science of Native American Earth medicine to facilitate outdoor living. Let your medicine be your food and your food be your medicine, was a phrase coined by Master Teacher and Physician Imhotep. In that spirit we reclaim the power to heal ourselves. We reinitiate the Creator given birth-right to self sustenance. In this we put the power of nurturer and healer back in our hands.

The herbs around your home will feed and nourish you. They know you and will provide what you need. In turn with your nurturing touch and attention they will receive the essential communication and environmental interaction to receive what they need. This symbiotic relationship, this familial connection nourishes and protects all.

There is an idea, a prevailing thought that the herbs surrounding our immediate environments are clues into the places that we could be in need of healing. What grows around your home? Are you familiar with the resources of food and medicine that flourish in your most intimate space? What heals us should be close and hands on.

The plants and herbs around us give us clear instructions on their functions and uses. Take Cuban Oregano for example. How the shape, texture and design indicate its ability to clean and clear out. How it resembles (to me at least) the lungs. There's no wonder it's used in instances of cough and congestion, among a number of other things.

We are constantly reminded of the abundance of nature in the face of all conditions. How she shows up in our most immediate spaces to serve and assist us, serve as a reminder that we as a part of her family are set to inherit this abundance. We in fact are integral parts of this abundance. Begin to know what thrives and flourishes around you. begin to know the family you draw to yourself. Love

.......

As we move more and more into self sustenance and our intrinsic sense of abundant consciousness as a family, we've taken to creating our own herbal tea blends (among other things) utilizing herbs and flowers that have been grown on the farm. Our favorite recently is a special blend of Sorrel and Holy Basil, which I've dubbed Holy Sorrel. Rounded out with a few other spices and herbs and packed full of vitamin C, it is a well balanced tea which will find a permanent place in our repertoire. Experiment with the herbs in your environment. See what you can come up with. Indulge your creativity and senses. You'll be surprised at what you discover.

My Kitchen Sounds Like: "Eastern Sounds" by Yusef Lateef

Keep It Close...Self Preservation

I can recall with a smile, the shuffle towards preparing food that we grew. The consumer mindset is often not an easy one to shake, even when we are surrounded overwhelmingly by everything we need. Hence, the shuffle. My mate, an extraordinarily talented farmer and artist would come home in half-shock, with a basket full of freshly harvested food, and find me in the kitchen preparing the same foods, only store-bought. Not only was there the reality that I had spent money on food, but that I purchased and was now preparing for our family a "substance" of lower quality, less flavor, and lacking in the the essential personal relationship that comes with growing your own food.

Now we have stepped into the Future, standing firm on practices championed in the past...

This month of October finds me in self-preservation mode. Preserving the foods of Summer's bounty to sustain and and preserve our bodies for the Winter's rest. Whether it's our Coconut and Squash based Habanero sauce, our Serrano chili paste, or our countless flower and herb combinations dried and blended specific to our family's needs and tastes. We are manufacturing our own "products" and controlling and flowing within our own sustenance. The food is fresh and it's familiar. It's intimate, CLOSE. A relationship that was established from seed....Love

We received an abundant amount and variety of peppers this month. So I offer up a Chili paste recipe. The recipe below is from the Know Thyself Family, featured in their quarterly newsletter. There are some slight variations in my final recipe but this place is a great starting point and comes close.

Easy Chili Garlic Sauce

1/2 pound fresh hot chilies
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar or other sweetener (optional)
2 tablespoons vinegar, or lemon or lime juice

Remove the stems from the chilies and discard. Cut the chilies into big pieces. The seeds can be left in (for a hotter version) or taken out (for a milder version). Puree the chilies with the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Use in small amounts on bean and rice dishes, tacos, soups, or even in salad dressings.
 
My Kitchen Sounds Like "Transfiguration" by Alice Coltrane