My son has developed a sudden interest in cooking. He asked me to give him some cooking lessons. Now I am certainly no Julia Childs, but I do know how to chop an onion and crack an egg. We started our lessons yesterday. We made a one skillet meal with potatoes and scrambled eggs. He was thrilled with the results. I enjoyed spending the day together: planning, shopping, chopping, cooking, talking, laughing.
He had no interest in cooking when he was younger. In fact, he preferred pre-made food from a carton; freezer to microwave in under 5 minutes. Mostly, I was too busy to teach him anyway. It was easier to cook for him than teach him to cook. We settled into a habit of convenient meals on the run. Clearly these meals do not effectively nourish the body. Perhaps even more importantly they do not nourish the spirit or provide a space for relationship.
Food is meant to be shared. Sharing in the planning and preparation is secondary only to sharing the food itself. It seems that so many of us have lost touch with the sacred nature of food. We don't have the time to honor food in the way it was intended; as a result we fail to honor ourselves and each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment