This weekend is the BIG GAME. That means lots of snacks and drinks and elastic pants.
I eat prepared foods.
That means someone else processes my meals and wraps them so I can buy their expertise and consume to maintain existences.
I avoid (as best as possible) the ultra-processed food.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are industrial formulations that undergo extensive processing, often involving multiple ingredients and additives. They are typically highly palatable, convenient, and have a long shelf life.
Fast food – These little boxes popped up on the side of the road to be tempting for walkers or drivers to stop by their dining establishment for refreshment at an affordable price. Point to the limited menu on the wall for the cashier in a colorful uniform with a paper hat may not speak your language. After an exchange of funds, you were instructed to move to another area where you received your plastic tray with sandwiches wrapped in paper and greasy spud strips just momently before were put to heat and presented as a meal. If you dared to eat in sitting in a booth only moments before held another family had occupied, was there time to clean or did you take your chances? No one attempted to use the restrooms.
Fried food – Growing up in the south, frying in lard or fat iron pan was a preferred preparation for all types of food. The smoked filled the house and increased the hunger of the diners. Poultry, fish, steak, potatoes all became a standard on the menu. Pan fried vegetables in a wok came later.
Convenient food – Those corner bodegas where you pop in to get a lottery ticket and some sugary drink, there is what is described food. Easy to go bag of chips and beef jerky, there are those wieners rolling on for how long that can be put in a soft stale bun and covered in cheese whiz. Nothing more appetizing than that.
Whole food- As opposed to ½ food, these labels are supposed to indicate healthy. If the bread is brown and has seed in it, it is whole bread. Have to read the label on noodles or vegetables or what separates it from the brand names promoted on television.
Omnivore – Eat meat or not eat meat? That is the question. Carnivore or herbivore? Go to the backyard garden and pull some beans, then shuck them in a paper bag, boil and serve only to be ignored on the plate. Go out to the hen house and ring the neck of a chicken and after it spurts blood and runs around, pluck it, gut it, remove the toes, cover the carcass in flour and slap it in a pan until golden brown and serve with a biscuit and honey. There is an industry of herding animals to graze on open lands until put to slaughter, drained, sliced and diced and ground up for the protein pleasure.
There are some foods I’ve sampled or prepared to fulfill my palate.
Ambrosia, beef bouillon, tomato aspic, calamari, chitins, jambalaya, fritters, gumbo, hoppin’ john, burgoo, po’ boy, red-eyed gravy, collards, fried green tomatoes, field peas, succotash, salsa, spoon bread, perloo, Bouillabaisse, quiche Lorraine, croquette monsieur, boeuf bourguignon, dacquoise, frites, confit, papillote, cassoulet, soufflĂ©, Paris-Brest, jamon ibeerico, paella, gazpacho, Espanola, contomate, bocadillos, chorizo, salmorejo, churros, dim sum, sushi, sweet and sour pork, kung pao chicken, ma po tofu, wontons, dumplings, chow mien, Peking roasted duck, spring rolls, moo shu pork, and hot pot, etc. Not as fond of caviar, calamary or haggis.
Everyone has preferences in taste, like music.
Barber’s Adagio, Stalin’s manifesto, Ode an die Freude, Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor or Richard Berry’s ‘Louie Louie’ in the key of E.
Everyone has a preference for movies, books, artwork, cars, interior designs, fashion, but cooking and consuming what is placed before you is a life necessity. Whether you like the taste or not, this is the fuel that keeps your carcass moving.
Having a kitchen with all the appliances and utensils is a room that cannot be denied in most abodes. Without one, it is delivery from some far distant chef or traveling to someone else’s kitchen to eat what they prepare and serve. Please leave a tip.
Some of the best $65 omelets are prepared at the local greasy spoon due to repetition and knowing the amount of ingredients needed (like your grandmother eyed from taste and not a recipe). Other dining experiences are about presentation and abundance of pampering service in starched jackets and expansive wine list.
So, for the BIG GAME DAY, looks like the weather will be suitable for a venture to the Tummy Temple and watch the masses scrabble for the bags of salty treats and the last of the guacamole fruit. The beer racks should be barren as will be the paper wipes. Still if there is a bit of sunshine and fresh air and I can survive getting in and out of the parking lot without being smushed, I’ll enjoy the show with the purpose of coming home with peanuts, popcorn and cracker jacks for the yard Monkees. Once safe back home, I’ll open a cardboard box and check the instructions for heating a frozen pizza that was prepared in some foreign place at some distant time and after the prescribed wait will roll a sharp knife over it to divide into triangle slices, cover in farmer john cheese powder and red pepper flakes as my daily meal.
The day after, I’ll watch the highlights on YouTube and hope the full gut will empty for another adventure into delicious delicacy delights.
