A Belief System We Can All Get Behind

If I had to answer a question about my religious inclinations on a survey or questionnaire, I would probably answer Jewish right off the bat. But if religion is defined by “a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices,” according to Merriam-Webster, then I would have to say my religion is of the culinary persuasion. I believe in food, in its freshness, in its rusticity, its malleability and chemistry, in its complexity.

I would probably be a religious fanatic if it came down to it because my entire life revolves around food and where my next meal is coming from. I feel deeply attached to the things I taste and the things I cook. When I was little, I ate Russian food, and still do, and hope to someday perfect my mother’s recipes for beef stroganoff and olivie salad. Those things are very important to me. It’s how I will always remember my family get-togethers. We sit down for dinner and weekend brunches (when I’m not flying out the door with reservations for restaurant week, or some other food-related festivity); steaming hot potatoes, sour cream, herring, ripe cuts of fresh tomatoes with cucumbers drizzled with sunflower oil, canned fish… I could go on forever.

Of course, food is a social coagulator. Eat, drink, and be merry, right? Famous words. However, besides the sociological products of food culture, there are also the scientific and inventive aspects. We have shows like Top Chef, Iron Chef, and channels like the Food Network to satisfy people’s curiosities. Most chefs that participate attempt to reinvent the concept of food. Laws of chemistry and physics are applied to recipes to create instantly smoked meats, mousses and foams. The frontier and the boundaries of standard cooking are expanding. There was a time when the United States was the land of meatloaf, steak, and green bean casserole. Now, we are borrowing ethnic techniques and the palate of the American people is expanding (thank God!).

The idea of cooking complicated dishes is no longer complicated either. With the help of cooking shows and specialized cooking utensils that are now available to the public, we too can create gourmet masterpieces like the ones we see on TV. I have recently tried to bake bread, make liver mousse, and just this morning, served up smoked salmon press sandwiches. Here are some blogs and links for anyone interested in exploring the food universe:

• www.latartinegourmande.com
• www.humblegourmand.com
• www.orangette.blogspot.com