I may becoming one of those. I never really thought about it until recently. Over the last couple of weeks (until about 3 days ago) I have been eating out. It is probably the longest continuous stretch for the past 2 years. The food was mostly good but there was just something missing.
Perhaps what is espoused in the book and film “Like Water For Chocolate” is true… unless it is cooked with love it will not truly fill you.
Over the last 3 days I’ve been cooking again and there has been a marked difference – satisfaction. Not that the food I had while eating out was bad but it just didn’t satisfy… just lacked that special something that one experiences in a home cooked meal. Does this mean that my “foodie” card will be revoked or will I be relegated to “home-cooked foodie” status?
I love the alchemy involved in cooking. Perhaps that is the crux here. I fully understand that when a meal is prepared and cooked for just a utilitarian need… it will taste just OK… kinda functional. I know simply because I have cooked those meals too. (I suspect we all have.) But when one puts the care, joy and love into the creation of a meal, the experience of eating can take on an almost divine nature. A transference of that energy seems to have been infused into the food thus enhancing the entire experience. I have friends who have claimed that their experience of a meal was so ecstatic they physically climaxed. (Wouldn’t you want to be at that dinner party?)
I can point out that the wedding feasts that I have experienced (back in Malaysia) that were cooked by a group of happy laughing “village cooks” was always so much better than more formal “catered” affairs. I will even extend this to some of the funeral feasts I’ve had. There just has to be something to that theory of energy transference. Afterall, in these cases the cooks know the bride and/or groom (or the decreased) personally and I’m sure their genuine affection and best wishes flavor the feast. I’ve has similar experiences at potlucks as well.
I guess the point of this post is that I’m not going to be eating out much for now… preferring instead to cook and eat with and to my own delight. Of course, if you want to cook and invite me over I will gladly turn up. Because home cooked is home cooked.
BTW… I cooked a fish and mango curry yesterday which is pictured up right. Cheers!