Somewhere I stumbled upon a recommendation for the book An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler and added to my reading list. Originally published in 2011 it is written with a bit of an old soul feel. A mixture of cooking tips, stories, and thoughts about life. With a scattering of recipes throughout. There were times I was tempted to skim through and then moments when I was deeply captivated by her words. As someone who loves cooking and a preschool teacher who often sets aside paintbrushes in favor of creating art with forks, cars, marbles, pom poms, I arrived at Chapter Five titled “How to Paint Without Brushes” and was immediately hooked. Beginning to connect with the art feel in her approach to cooking.
“One can paint without brush, ink, or paper. For the gesture must be conceived in such a way that when one makes it, it was already there.”
-Shi Tao, The Sayings of Friar Bitter Melon
Tamar starts this chapter with “If we were taught to cook as we are taught to walk, encouraged first to feel for pebbles with, our toes, then to wobble forward and fall, then had our hands firmly tugged so we would try again…………………….. Instinct, whether on the ground or in the kitchen, is not a destination but a path.”
In many cultures cooking is a process, meals are a valued time of social gatherings and connections. Traditions in cooking are passed down from generation to generation. You learn to cook from your grandmother and mother, often without recipes, learning to cook with your five senses. Feeling the produce to know when it’s perfectly ripe, tasting the flavors to learn how they complement one another, hearing the sound of the water boil just right, smelling the perfect aroma of garlic sauteed in olive oil, seeing the beauty of food presented well on the plate. These family cooking traditions may in some places throughout America still be found but for the most part, cooking has become an individual task taken on by a certain few with natural talent or passion for culinary arts. We have forgotten that the kitchen can feed our souls as much as our bodies.
Click on the picture above to check out the book (affilate link)
It struck me as odd that this book begins with a chapter on how to boil water. But as I read I realized that I have much to learn about cooking food in boiling water. I usually save boiling for pasta, potatoes to be mashed, and eggs. But once again it goes back to the fact that we really don’t learn to walk in the kitchen before we run. We also have certain perceptions about food as is pointed out in chapter nine where she states “beans have always been associated if not with poverty, with the sweating classes……………… most of us regard beans with suspicion, as we do stale bread and cooking in water.” Like most things in life, we have some pre-formed ideas about what makes good food. What I appreciate about this book is that it takes you back to the basics of using what you have. Simple or less isn’t always bad. Good flavors from a few ingredients is an art worth learning.
As someone who loves the opportunity to spend time in the kitchen, I have realized I can make it way more complicated than it needs to be. Often I have felt that a meal consisting only of a bowl of soup is lacking. Using what you have on hand to piece together a meal feels underwhelming. But I have to say after reading through this book I have been re-inspired to find the art in cooking more simply. To be creative in the way we use what we have on hand. To be ok with throwing together potato salad to use up potatoes before they grow arms and legs. Or when there are no good lunch options but eggs in the refrigerator, making up an egg salad.
The word perspective has been coming up a lot in my reading and writing these days. Once again as I reflect on this book I am seeing a new and different perspective on cooking. I am inspired in new ways to not be quick to learn fancy and new but to perfect the basic art of using my five senses as I cook. Remembering that cooking can be more than just filling bellies, it can also be about feeding souls.
This book may not be for everyone. It took a while before I began to see the rhythm and understand the art and tone of her writing. But once I got into the flow of where she was going, reading it through a lens that balanced the art of cooking, with methods of cooking and the simplicity of using what you have to create meals, it flowed beautifully, providing both knowledge and inspiration.
So now I must go try out one Tamar’s recipes from the book and marinate some goats cheese. I’ll be sure to share how it went in a few weeks as it apparently has to marinate awhile to be yummy.
