DEMONSTRATION OF AFFECTION THROUGH FOOD

When I visited my granny last weekend, she sent me home with a plate of food. A nice balanced southern classic dinner. This meal was soothing for me in ways I didn't understand until I was done eating. It was regenerative and comforting. She is hands down the best cook I know- even at the age of 84. The meal wasn’t one of her most elaborate but it was filled with so much care and sustenance. It made me think about the fact that it had been so long since I had a homemade meal prepared by someone else.  A meal I didn’t have to work to make or be present to help for. All wrapped up and only needing to be reheated. Most of the time, I eat food as I prepare it. By the time the meal is complete, I’m full from all my samples. I rarely sit down and enjoy a plate that’s purposefully prepared. After I cook, I like to start the kitchen clean up immediately before I get tired. I can’t sleep well knowing my kitchen is dirty!  When someone prepares a meal for you that tastes good and requires no effort from you it is an expression of love and a demonstration of affection. 

This meal made me think about the energy food holds. We know how we feel after we eat a meal that makes us sluggish and drained. After eating, I felt energetic and revived. It can’t be a coincidence that the flavor housed in each bite created a sense of livelihood within me. The combination of all the different spices and chopped vegetables and sauces really awakened something familiar and lineal within me. Not to make everything sound profound and mystical - but my granny's cooking takes me into a time portal back to childhood. In my single digit ages, I had access to her cooking all the time. Sometimes, when we’re on the phone she’s cooking I’ll ask her what she's preparing. I gawk at every detail she shares and I tell her I wish I was there to eat it. We laugh together because we both know I’m about to miss out the savoring. I love the way I cook, but nothing compares to a meal made by her. 

As I get older, I fall more in love with cooking and creating various staple meals. I am starting to implement fuller and more exciting meals on Sunday nights as a southern belle should! I hope that one day, my grandchildren feel the same way about my food. One thing my granny does with her cooking that I try to emulate is being thorough in my prep. I slice my onion, bellpepper and whatever other added vegetables down really tiny before adding them to a meal. Doing this ensures that in every single bite there’s guaranteed to be a hint of every ingredient. Another thing she taught me how to do was butter the pan properly when I’m baking cornbread. She taught me the proper way to distribute flour evenly after oiling a cake pan. She shows me how paying close attention to the small details in preparation make for beautiful meals. Another thing she taught me was the order to cook things in to ensure freshness as all parts of the meal finish concurrently. I can taste her influence in some meals I cook, but I still have a long way to go.