It’s hard to believe that Culinary Types celebrates its fifth birthday today. This milestone includes more than 450 posts, and more time than I spent in college. It has been an education of a different sort.
From the start, the concept was a simple one – stories about food can be delicious. I’ve learned a lot from hearing, writing and sharing stories over the years. Today I’d like to share five brief stories about food.
Stories about food are the main ingredient at every meal. We tell stories at the farm, at the market, at the stove and at the table. Look at these tomatoes! Remember Tante's Hazelnut Torte, Nana's Apple Cake and the marzipan cake Aunt Elizabeth would bring at Christmas? That first pastured chicken from the farm was worth waiting for! Weren't those fried deviled eggs awesome? The food narrative is part of our collective history and our community. It’s who we are.
Behind every story about food, there’s an individual. Whether it’s the person who plants, picks, cooks or eats the food, people and food are inseparable.
Stories about food bring people together. Lydia, Susan, John and Diane, Sam, Julia, Louise, Anne, Chef Candy, Veronica, Bruce, Dorie, Dan and Caroline, the community at Restoration Farm, Zany, Mad Me-Shell and more. For me, the list of people I’ve come to know is abundant and rich.
Stories about food can inspire new ideas and open doors. I can say without question that the act of writing Culinary Types has transformed my life, and continues to do so each day.
There’s always a new dish, a fresh ingredient that's in season, or another story around the corner and it’s bound to taste even better than the one before. Trust me. It will be delicious.
©2011 T.W. Barritt all Rights Reserved
