Slowing Down
Take some time to stop and smell the tomatoes.
I just read an article on the origins and purpose of the “Slow Food” movement. For those of you who haven’t heard of this before, the Slow Food movement is an international group that works to oppose industrialized, commercialized “fast food” and to promote regional, local food instead. The movement began in Rome in 1986 when McDonald’s opened a location on the Spanish Steps. The Slow Food movement seeks to bring back an appreciation for unprocessed food, food that may take time to prepare. In addition, they promote the concept that we should take more time to savor what we eat and enjoy the dining experience more than our fast lives seem to allow.
I believe that this movement’s goals are worthy objectives. But then I started wondering if this philosophy could apply anywhere else in our modern lives. Have modern commercial practices detracted from the quality of our lives in any other ways? For example, I don’t believe that many of us would want to promote the “slow clothing’ movement where we go back to growing our own cotton, spinning it, dyeing it, weaving our own cloth, and making clothing. I certainly wouldn’t want to be that slow.
On the other hand, I recently let go of my alternate week cleaning service and went back to cleaning my entire home myself, with conflicting feelings. On the one hand, I always think about all the other things I could be doing while I’m cleaning my home. On the other hand, there’s something satisfying about caring for your own environment, and not leaving it in the hands of strangers. As I clean, I try to embrace the physical activity and accomplishment which is so different from my normal work. Whether this “slow” movement will stick is still open for debate in my mind.
Can you think of any other areas that we could benefit from a “Slow” movement?
The Mysterious Anchovy
The Poster Child for Umami
Most people assume they don’t like anchovies. Who would admit to liking these brown, hairy, little strips of canned fish? But they’re very funny little creatures. While I wouldn’t eat them on top of a salad as some people do, I have been tackling recipes, lately, that use them as a subtle background flavor.
I was just reading Mark Bitten’s blog for the “New York Times” and ran across a post (by a guest author) that discussed using smoked anchovies in a stew to add the flavor that is now the darling of top chefs, umami. That reminded me of last night’s dinner, that was a very simple linguine dish with garlic, olive oil, bread crumbs, and anchovies. The 6-8 anchovies I used were chopped and sauteed with the oil, garlic, and bread crumbs. Everyone enjoyed the dinner, and the funny thing was that no one guessed there were anchovies in the dish. It wasn’t that I was hiding this fact deliberately, I just forgot to mention it. However, I believe if I had let it slip, dinner wouldn’t have been received as well. Instead, everyone enjoyed the slightly salty, umami flavor of the dinner and not a ribbon was left at the end of the meal.
Photo of the Week – 12/9/09 – Food as Art
We went for dinner last Saturday night and this Malted mousse was my dessert. It tasted good, but my eyes enjoyed it even more.