Food culture is something I have always been interested in. I really should do more to immerse myself in it. Sometimes I wish I could be like Anthony Bourdain, traveling hither and yon, sampling the delicacies of the world, impressed, confounded, and occasionally enraged by what he experiences whilst designing rockets during layovers. Okay, he probably doesn't do that, but if he were a rocket scientist he probably would. I don't want a TV show.
I find the concept of "breakfast food" to be bourgeois.
The whole idea that there are certain foods that are only to be eaten at certain times, to me, is beyond ridiculous. The only exceptions being custom or ritual for religious, personal, or national reasons. Such as a Seder, Thanksgiving, or the ceremonial 3:45am flapjack at the annual Paul Bunyan festival. Even still, these are not foods that are ONLY eaten on these occasions (my limited understanding of a Seder is that it's common foods eaten in a certain order with prayers, nothing that couldn't or shouldn't be eaten at other times. Anyone may feel free to correct/enlighten me on this).
I take this approach with all my meals, though I believe it to be most apparent at breakfast.
Do I sometimes have eggs for breakfast? Yes.
Do I sometimes have cereal for breakfast? Yes.
Do I sometimes have a hamburger for breakfast? Yes.
As long as you're not eating a tonne of junk all the time, I fail to see why it matters what you eat when you eat. The existence of cucumber sandwiches proves this. A concoction that was developed solely because people had enough wealth to eat it. Does that mean it's wrong? No. Not at all.
The event that was most detrimental to food culture in this country was the 50s. Seriously, go back and look at them. TV dinners, pre-made this, instant that. In an effort to make life simpler we took the challenge out of it. Now, instead of having to put any effort into anything, all Mrs. Beaver had to do was pop a tray in the oven at 350 for 20 mins and before she had time to put on high heals and pearls dinner was coming out of the oven just as Mr. Beaver was walking in the door. And if she were feeling particularly lazy she could just leave it to Theodore!
I have this thought every time I walk down the frozen food aisle at the Fintrools Food Library. Seeing those rows and rows and stacks and freezers full of cardboard flavored frozen TV nonsense makes me wonder just what we as a society have become.
I should clarify that I am speaking of food culture as a society, not an individual. I will be the first to admit I have enjoyed my share of Lean Cuisines and Stoffers Mac n Cheese because mac n cheese is awesome. And on an individual basis, if you need something quick for yourself, that's fine. There are some good tasting microwave meals out there. I am also not trying to describe the whole country under a single "food culture." And I guess it's not the culture that I'm talking about but more the approach. You go to a city, or a country place, and you find someone doing something different, or something "old-school" and it's thought to be this novel thing that everyone is impressed he thought of. I'm not trying to take anything away from the artisan who spent the time to prefect his technique and has graciously decided to share it with the world. Kudos to that guy. I wish there were more of him.
The problem is time. We're all too damn busy. We're all complaining that there's never enough time. But what the hell are we doing? Seriously, next time you complain that there's not enough time, stop and think about what you've been doing for the last two hours. Do you ever hear the Europeans complaining about a lack of time? No. You don't. Because they're too busy complaining about a lack of economy and trying to pretend that the Euro was not a terrible idea in the first place. They're terrified they're going to have too much time.
Some of you may be thinking that if we had a society full of artisan food stuffs that would take away from the effect. I disagree. Look at those food war shows, the one with the two hot dogs right next to each other and a rivalry not just between the stores, but between the customers. How awesome is that? Can you imagine if you had three noodle shops right next to each other? Each one with their own technique, beliefs. I believe that competition inspires innovation in everything including food.
The one benefit that food has over other things is that you don't necessarily have to improve on what's there.
And faster/more efficient isn't always better.
I still believe in all you can eat buffets. Sometimes you just have to eat the hell out of a plate of shrimp.
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