Running around the hotels that Daddy bossed in allowed me to delve superficially into the world of waiters. Waiter World was different than the world we lived in — they lived in waiters’ “quarters” and did waiter-ly things. Despite being impeccable in appearance and dainty in demeanor, waiters were generally looked down upon, as shadows of the human beings that they were born to be. Difficult as their job may be, waiters had it easier back then.
The days when guests indiscriminately ordered off the menu and took the chef’s word as the be all and end all are now long gone. There was no Kobe beef, no free-range chicken and definitely no organic fish while I was growing up. No one I knew ate raw fish and people ordered pizza with bromidic toppings. Artichokes on pizza? Surely you jest! The waiter had yet to be catapulted into the world of the “foodies.”
Today, customers equipped with knowledge amassed from the internet and television shows value themselves as first-rate chefs. We excitedly watch Mario Batali, read Gordon Ramsay’s biography and voila! We know it all.
Trust me, we don’t. We have not even scratched the surface. I know I haven’t. Do you watch CSI and think you’re a forensic criminalist? I hope not. We are not entitled to second-guess a chef’s judgment unless we really know what we’re talking about. Not usually the case, is it?
Do not misunderstand me. In the long run, an educated palate is a positive thing. It’s great to see more sophisticated customers but are we as informed at home or is this a pretense that resides solely in restaurants to abuse the waiters taking your order?
How did we become this way?
Can you name the most apparent propaganda arm of the food industry? Television’s 24-hour food channels. Why watch a weekly cooking show when you can glue yourself to one all the time? It worked for sports, didn’t it? Born in the crucible of American television, these channels have now acquired the level of command that once belonged to Julia Child.
Long before reality television, a group of savvy executives dreamt up the idea of turning relatively unknown chefs into overnight celebrities. Through time, you didn’t even have to be a chef. Look at Nigella Lawson and Rachel Ray. The problem didn’t lie there. Please, by all means, revel in your massive profits but don’t make us feel insecure, both as chefs and customers.
Chefs clamored to cook in the kitchens of various studios, hoping to be the next chef dumping wine into everything. Suppliers rushed to fill the sponsor spots. Restaurants and food critics couldn’t wait to become the next big thing. On TV, that is. Would-be customers and could-be cooks gawked at the spectacular magic tricks chefs performed, all the while eating their simplistic cheese sandwich miserably on the couch, wishing that it would somehow transmute into what the chef is conjuring up. Everything begins to look shabby in comparison and the urge to go out and feast on what the unseen chef is making becomes constant.
In this sense, I see it as completely justifiable that we are now naming it food pornography. We are no longer watching cooking shows shot in badly lit studios. Instead, we are following Andrew Zimmern on his quest for bizarre foods, we trail behind Anthony Bourdain as he drags us across the world in search of unfamiliar flavors and on a melancholic day, we stay indoors with Nigella who comforts us with the soothing sounds of her soulfulness. Food has been sexualized for profit. Pornography much?
In essence, there is nothing wrong with educating yourself about food or how to cook. Just remember that while these messages are implanted into your psyche, deliberately or not, you might end up feeling like a chubby little girl desperately looking up to the fabulous models of the skinny world. I know I do.
People are beginning to forget that food is predominantly about survival. Everything that enters your mouth does not have to be sexy, fresh and awe-inspiring. Staying alive and maintaining your health is what matters. Everything else is secondary. Cheese sandwiches are fine. It doesn’t matter if the cheese doesn’t come from French goats, nor does it have to be drizzled with balsamic and it certainly doesn’t need the inclusion of warm grilled nectarines placed in strategic positions.
Ultimately, be nice to your waiter. That patient breed that many of us don’t notice seem to have been left out of the celebrity loop and in spite of knowing much about the practices and traditions of food, we do not know much about those that have to stay in the shadow serving us. Try being in their shoes. You’ll remember very quickly that food is about survival and that the simplest of things are on occasion, the finest.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
You’ll need:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup of unsalted butter, melted
1 cup of packed brown sugar
A scant 1/2 cup of white sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat your oven to 165 degrees Celsius. Grease your cookie sheet or line with baking paper. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt and mix. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well mixed. Beat in the vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the dry ingredients until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes in the oven or until the edges are lightly toasted. They will still feel super soft. Cool on baking sheets then transfer to an air-tight container to retain chewiness once they’re cool.
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