I was going to do a knife piece for this entry, but there’s been a topic rearing it’s head that demands attention— why and where I’m going with all of this.

There are plenty of sites and shows out there that make cooking easy and approachable, but they could be an island away for all it matters if we can’t get past our fear and mental block of being in the kitchen.  That’s one of the things I’m hoping to accomplish here- to break down the demons, past and present, that keep us from having a good meal and a great time creating it.

Two of my close friends have recently questioned why this is important; one of them asking me if I’d ever considered that some people were just indifferent to food, ” viewing [it] as nothing more than a tool, the fuel that it is.”

This really got my brain churning and burning; because in this world of fast food convenience it makes you wonder why this topic is important, why one should keep writing about and highlighting breaking out of the food shell we’ve put ourselves into.  Why does it matter?

What I keep coming back to is that even the most indifferent, fuel-based person still has an emotional attachment to at least one meal or food (for varying reasons), and can be swayed by food as long as it fits into their value structure.

That spark is the reason it matters.

When you’re sick and someone brings you the food that’s just right, it’s more than fuel.  When you sip that perfect glass of wine at the end of a long day, it’s more than just fuel.  When you share a dessert with a loved one and you both get to savor it, it’s more than just fuel.

This joy and relief happens to even the most staunchly indifferent people, and that tells me there’s something deeper here.  Just because we’ve lost some of that connection to food in our current society doesn’t mean it’s not still there, or that we subconsciously agreed with losing it at all.

In fact I’d argue the opposite, that we’re (mostly subconsciously at this point) struggling to get back to it.

Otherwise why would food be able to sway us at all?  Why haven’t we just “progressed” to soylent green and called it good?  Why do we crave a good meal after a week of MREs?  After a long, hard day?  When we’re physically stressed or emotionally taxed?  And why would organizations like Weight Watchers exist?

Why would you even bother to have a favorite food?  But we all have one, don’t we?  And balls to brass, that favorite is probably rooted in an emotional connection.

My favorite food, hands down, is lobster.  A 3 lb crustacean I can cook and then subsequently rip apart, simply without even butter, is at the top of my list.  As one of my bestest snarky friends once pointed out to me, I’ve probably eaten more lobster than 99.7% of the country.

Why do I love it?  One could argue it was the first step to butchery, which I very much enjoy, and that it tastes very good.  These are true, but in actuality it’s one of my favorite memories from childhood.

My mother can take apart a lobster better and faster than anyone I know, and she taught me when I was very young.  She had unwavering faith that I could just do it; but that’s also how my mom approaches life.  Soon it was my “job” to shell the shrimp and lobster, and crab for my dad.  I was very proud of this job, as some of it can be quite meticulous and even a little painful in the case of spiny crab legs.

Every time I shell a large crustacean I’m brought a little closer to the joy of that memory, even if I’m not consciously thinking about it at the time.  Just makes me smile.  If food was just fuel, we wouldn’t form these connections to even the most tedious of jobs in the kitchen.

So yes, that is what I’m hoping to accomplish here—to break down the demons that keep us from having a good meal and a great time creating it; otherwise we’re all just living in conflict and inner turmoil, and that’s not productive.

On a larger scale my goal is to produce, and through that make creation possible for other people by removing the burdens that can clutter up the mind in the kitchen and surrounding food.

You don’t have to love, want, or like cooking for this to apply, because chances are you know someones who does want to, or likes to, and/or is experiencing the pressures I touch on.  The spark, directly and indirectly, touches us all.