Telling Your Story
Food as an art form. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, your daily dinner has entire television channels dedicated to food, cooking and the creation of meals anywhere from the exotic to a new twist on an old favorite. You can watch people prepare food, eat food and talk about food 24-7. You can watch someone BBQ, cook over an outdoor wood fire, or blend the finest ingredients into exquisite flavors. A television isn't even necessary; a phone with internet is all you need.
Chefs like Gordon Ramsey and Guy Fieri, already stars for their capabilities in the kitchen, have brought their craft to television, giving shows like Diners Drive Ins and Dives and cooking competitions like Master Chef airtime with massive audiences. In fact, the winner of this season's Master Chef judged in part by Gordon Ramsey, is Jake Kelley, a Michigan man who was deliberating between a career as a pharmacist or chef. I think the $500,000 grand prize from the kitchens of Hollywood has helped him decide that his future lies in food. His hometown opened the high school gymnasium for the final episode where he was crowned the winner. What a thrilling community experience for this young man and his small town!
Elevating the eating experience is trendy, cool and gets a lot of attention. But the vast majority of eaters are missing out on the world's greatest food experience—the local auction house café.
Give me a night out in a little cafe seated around a lunch counter at a place where cattle are being sold, possibly just beyond the connecting wall. At worst, it is only a minute or two walk to where the auctioneer's call is beckoning cattle buyers to spend. Give me a place where you can hear cattle while managing a pile of mashed potatoes swimming in gravy. Give me a cold plate on a hot summer day from cooks who know how to serve the unlikely combination of food that is both filling and cooling. And please, do the complete experience while you are there. Have the pie and coffee at the end of the meal. Rest assured that people who know how to feed you old-fashioned working food either know how to make a good pie or know someone who can.
Simple, tasty food swimming in gravy might be nostalgic, or maybe simple food is all we really need.
Bev Berens is a freelance writer and empty nester from Vestaburg, Mich. She can be contacted at uphillfarm494@yahoo.com.