I remember a summer brunch many years ago, while I was still living in DC. My oldest friend Danielle was there and I’d just returned from a few days visiting childhood friends on their boat in Charleston harbor. When presented with news of my trip, Danielle’s initial line of questioning could have focused on any number of things: updates on our old friend’s lives, museums I visited, architecture of the old part of the city, how the boat was fairing in the warm southern waters. And we got to all those things in time, but this was my oldest friend. Danielle is family, so her first question was predetermined. “What did you eat?”
Every family has a regular topic of conversation that says something important about who they are. It’s the conversation over the dinner table, at breakfast, in the car. A running dialogue that picks up where it left off, assumes its importance as a topic above all others, and draws upon a historic data bank for comparison. For some families the topic is sports, or financial markets, or history or real estate. For my family it is food. What did you eat? Where did you eat? Was the fish soup there better than the Drake? What’s the local delicacy? Who was the chef? How did he prepare it?
Over breakfast we discuss what’s for lunch, over lunch what’s for dinner, and over dinner the cycle begins again. Before traveling to a new city, we call the network to find the best places to eat. And good meals are memories to be shared over and over again like good stories with a moral to them… remember the fresh bread from Westchester Italian? the oysters we pulled from low tide at the sand pit that fall? that glorious butter lettuce last summer? Uncle Jerry’s Christmas pate? Dad’s Pancakes Williamaire? Grandma’s soda bread? Hot Dogs from Walter’s stand?
Growing up in New York I was fortunate to be surrounded by family and friends who loved food … traditional food, exotic food, ethnic food, slow food, high-brow and low-brow. As a family we’d cook together … the dining room and the kitchen was where friends gathered and it was over food that life’s most important moments were recorded. Left-overs were considered a challenge and nothing went to waste.
Food has always been a lens through which I see my world and - fair or not - how I see other people. Do they enjoy food … or is food simply fuel? Do they think about what they are eating, where it came from, what it is made of? Are they adventurous and daring? Are they willing to experiment and get it wrong? Are they open to learn new things? How people approach food is an indicator for me of how they approach life.
On a second date a few years ago I was told in no uncertain terms by my date that he never, never ate off of other people’s plates or shared even a taste of his meal with others. He found it distasteful to do so, and frankly he ordered what he wanted and he didn’t want to share. As for me, I must have been eleven or twelve years old before I realized that the little plate to the side was originally intended for bread and not for sharing tastes of what you ordered with others. By the end of the meal I concluded that my date applied his ‘closed-plate’ principles not just to dinner … world economies, personal wealth and friendship. There was no third date.
Don’t get me wrong - I have many friends who don’t share my particular obsession with food and the enjoyment of food. But I find an instant connection with most people who do. That’s why I was so excited when Colleen and Bear approached me about helping to found a chapter of Slow Food here in Columbus. Good, clean and fair food. I’d used the Slow Food guidebook on a recent trip to Italy, and remember hearing about the movement, but knew very little about the organization. I did some reading checked out the international website (http://www.slowfood.com/ ) and the US site (http://www.slowfoodusa.org/) and was excited by what I read. These were my people!
We’ve had a few gatherings so far and have dreamed up hundreds of others. We’ve met wonderful people, some of whom have been members of slow food for years, traveling great distances to attend events. People with a shared perspective about food - about slow food - have found us and we are still finding them. The people behind Local Matters, The Greener Grocer, Jeni’s Ice Cream, United Estates and other local producers, importers and organizations who share the same ideas and ideals have been wonderfully encouraging. And we’ve met many individuals who have been working on community gardens, taste and food education and folks like me who are interested in learning, exploring and sharing tastes off of other peoples’ plates.
Slow Food Columbus will be about many things, and will evolve and grow … but I know it will always making connections for like-minded people and for like-minded organizations. I hope you’ll check out our website and consider becoming a member so you can participate. Information from Colleen on our next event is there - April 27 at Alana’s with Connie and Patrick from United Estates. I hope you’ll come.
At that breakfast many years ago - after my long and detailed account of the meals I ate while in Charleston - Danielle’s boyfriend protested that all we ever talked about was food, we were obsessed, he said, and he found the constant discussion of food rather tiring. We stared at him bemused, and then tucked back into our crepes and discussed the menu for dinner. He wouldn’t last.
- Haley Boehning
