To Eat is Human

Leslie English

"I set myself in front of the dish, they have a crystalline texture to me, vibrant, ivory, vegetable, oily, like fruit, like algae, like agates, like olives . . . And then I stir them, I shake them, I drink them, I gulp them down, I mash them, I garnish them, I let them go . . . "

Pablo Neruda’s prose poem "The Word" well expresses the emotions of an inveterate food fiend, although he is talking about words, not food. In fact, food offers an inexhaustible vocabulary for fulfillment and rapture. The interplay of color, taste, smells, texture. Anticipation, pleasure, serenity. The realm of food encompasses all one could possibly desire.

Food is a way of connecting you with time and space. It is an outward form of an inner focusing. This focusing is both a narrowing and an expanding: narrow in its concentration on moment and place, expanding in where it can take you. Just as t'ai chi and meditation align you with sky and earth energy, immersion in food—gathering, preparing, cooking, sharing—can undo frazzlement and make you both centered and expansive.

The eye, the palate, and the soul are intrigued and refreshed when they can explore and choose. This sense of freedom and openness is intrinsic to the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which have evolved a way of eating that inspires contemplative enjoyment of the moment, zest, and companionship. The concept of meze or tapas (a tempting array of small dishes) has been an inspiration to the American table.

"Summer cooking implies . . . an immediacy, a capacity to capture the essence of a fleeting moment." 1

What is out there that can be eaten? In May, watercress and nettles at the stream, grape leaves in the field; in June—blueberries, in July, raspberries and blackberries, red-stained fingers, oozing sweetness. On rare occasions you can find a chicken of the woods, Lateiporus sulfureus, those immense orange shelf-like mushrooms, which can be cut into thick slabs and sautéed, like chicken.

Armed with an empty stomach and a basket, you prowl the woods and meadows (or, if not so inclined, the outdoor markets), like a child in a treasurehouse. Vivid fruit, gleaming fish, full of potential. Can there be a better question for the hungry than "What shall we eat?"

To begin: a palette of smooth dips of beautiful colors, red (peppers), green (pesto), black (olive), served on thin slices of raw red beet, white radish, orange butternut squash on a yellow platter. Olives of green, amber, purple, rose, lavender, and brown in a turquoise bowl.

Then a white bean salad dressed with mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar (or maybe those elegant little purple-black French lentils); throw in a handful of fresh herbs, basil or mint.

The wonderful cookbook writer Claudia Roden called the intense smoky muskiness of grilled eggplant "exciting and vulgarly seductive." 2 It needs only a sprinkle of olive oil and lemon juice and a bit of garlic. Eggplant's secret: it is always better served the next day. In fact, it gets more complex and melting every day. If you chop it up with tomatoes, onions, parsley, garlic and olive oil you’ve got the incomparable Russian "poor man’s caviar."

A common sight in the Mediterranean is rows of recently defunct octopus hanging to dry from a pole set between two rush-seated chairs at the edge of the sea. Octopus may sound alarming but is both rich and delicate. How about a soup, succulent white tentacles among the cilantro, lime, and fennel (a dash of Ouzo or Pernod makes this sublime—fish wants some anise flavor to make it sing, and also a bit of orange). Black mussels, saffron the color of sunset, the salmony pink of shrimp.

Next a ripe cheese (maybe Saint Andre), velvety like moss, and a chalky white sheep cheese (such as the Greek Manouri or the Italian Ricotta Salata) that evokes rough mountains.

Think of contrast--of texture, color, mood.

Dripping peaches, their deep orange like hot earth.

A sorbet made simply of, say, plums or strawberries blended up with some berry juice, then frozen.

For us addicts, a small but potent bolt of espresso.

Paradise is simple.

For unexpected company you can always come up with an impromptu feast if you have on hand a modest gamut of things that keep for days and can be combined in myriad tantalizing ways—olives, a couple of good cheeses, roasted red peppers (buy them when cheap, roast and freeze), and the makings of an easy grain (such as bulghur or millet) or rice salad such as one of these:

Yellow Rice Salad

1 cup white Basmati rice (chosen for its delicious nutty flavor), 2-3 c. water, 1 tsp. turmeric and 1 pinch saffron to make it a brilliant yellow. Add a thin peel of orange peel to the water and, if you like spicy, a slice of a habanero pepper. When cool add two cups of finely chopped parsley, mint, and scallions, a handful of chopped red pepper and frozen or fresh green peas, 1/2 c. pecans or almonds. Dress with 2 Tb. orange juice, 1-2 Tb. lemon juice (or to taste), 6 Tb. olive oil, salt and pepper.

Wild Rice Salad with Dried Cranberries and Walnuts

1 cup wild rice cooked with 1/4 c. dried cranberries, 1 cinnamon stick, 2-3 c. water. Dress with 3 Tb. raspberry vinegar, 6 Tb. walnut oil, salt and pepper, 1/2 c. chopped walnuts. A handful of chopped dill and scallions.

Red pepper—Sun-dried tomato dip

Roast 4-5 red peppers until skin is blackened. Put in brown paper bag and leave 10 min. until cool (the steam thus created helps skin come off). Remove skin, stem, and seeds. (Here they can be frozen, then defrosted and served simply with some garlic, rosemary, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.) At this point, they can be blended with 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth + 2-196-3 Tb. Ouzo or Pernod [optional: 2 Tb. cream] for an incredible soup.

Steam 1 c. sun-dried tomatoes in 1 c. water until plump. Discard any water left in pan.

Sauté‚ 1 chopped onion and several cloves garlic in a little olive oil.

Combine in blender with 2-3 Tb. balsamic vinegar, 2 Tb. olive oil, 2 Tb. Ouzo, Pernod, or other anise-flavored liqueur. Serve with some tarragon leaves on dark bread.

Spring Pea Soup

with Mint, Watercress, and Cucumber

Make a vegetable broth of 1 qt. water, 1 onion, 1 carrot, parsley, 1 c. watercress, several sprigs mint. Cook 30 min., strain. Add 2 c. fresh watercress, cook 10 min. Add 1 pkg. frozen peas, 1 cucumber (peeled, seeded, chopped). Cool and blend until smooth with 1/2 c. milk or half-and-half, or 1 block tofu. Top with mint leaves and chopped scallions. Best hot.

Five-minute Gazpacho

(use only real garden tomatoes!)

Blend: 4-5 great tomatoes, skinned; 1 red pepper; 1 cucumber; 2-4 cloves garlic; 1 chopped red onion; 1 cucumber (peeled, seeded, chopped); 1-2 slices good French bread; 1-2 Tb. balsamic vinegar; 2-3 Tb. olive oil; 2 c. water; salt and pepper. Chill. Top with basil leaves.

"It is through celebration that we become part of what we perceive." 3

What does it take to be a great cook, in essence? It is the imparting of delight, the release of fragrance.

Cheap thrills and free food—it’s all out there. In the words of an Italian friend:

"You want? Take. You like? Eat." n

Notes

1. Elizabeth David, Summer Cooking, (Penguin 1965).

2. Claudia Roden, A Book of Middle Eastern Food, (Penguin).

3. Norman Mommens, cited in Patience Gray, Honey from a Weed: Fasting and Feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cylcades, and Apulia, (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1990). A totally delightful book.