Friday, September 3, 2010

Foodie Confessional





I was always a foodie. When my mother took me to the local pizza place, I liked a lot of garlic on my slice and instead of folding it in half like everyone else, I piled all of the cheese to the center so I could savor the concentration of its flavor. I would chew it until there was not a bit to taste.
Pizza remains one of my favorite things in the entire world. All different kinds of pizza. Whether it be the neighborhood pizzeria or something more upscale like Otto's in the East Village, I love pizza. At Otto's, I fell in love with their olive oil gelato. Sweets are my other food obsession, but that is the next part of this post. When I traveled to Connecticut to try pizza at Pepe's, all my New York friends questioned why I would leave New York to have good pizza. I am going to New Jersey soon for cupcakes as well. I have wended my way through endless New York City neighborhoods to have different culinary excursions. Any place I go in the city I can tell you where I will eat, or what place I want to try.
Will travel for food.
I think about food all the time. Anywhere I go, whatever activity, I wonder where am I going to eat before or after. Preferably after because then I have something to look forward to as I rehash whatever experience it was that I had. In the past week, I have had Russian, French and Ethiopian. I am due to have Moroccan and Indian in the next few weeks; I like all kinds of cuisine. I'll try anything. I recently signed up for Gastronauts because I really am everything they embody and I patiently wait to be invited to my first dinner!
And after dinner there is dessert...
Ahhh dessert, the thing that I live for the most. The cherry on top of every day. Chocolate is a big love of mine. I remember a quiz in Cosmopolitan to determine how sensual are you. One of the questions was which food can you not get enough of--gooey, cheesy pizza and rich decadent chocolate mousse were two of the possible answers. Honestly I could not answer because both of them create a sense of insatiability in me if they are good.
Is it the flavor, is it the punctuation that food creates around so many experiences in my life since I was a child? Is it the exploration of other cultures, or my love of novelty and trying new things? Whatever it is, food and eating and the environment I do it in are major productions, almost like theater in my daily life. Three times a day, the show must go on...
Recently I was studying up on Ayurveda, and implementing parts of a sattvic diet in mine,
getting recipes from Aparna Khanolkar's site. I read Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet and have implemented vegan and vegetarian aspects to my diet. My relationship with food is like any love relationship; I try things that I have never tried before. Try never to be complacent with eating the same things all of the time. Life is too short and there are too many edible things that I can try. I recently became a fan of beets which I never liked as a child and now love. Brussel sprouts and goat are my next targets. Whether I hit the bullseye or not, whether they become new favorites or not it is the experience. I am all about the experience with food.

Photographs by F. Solomon

5 comments:

  1. Your post makes my mouth water! (I'm eating my Weight Watchers "Chocolate Pretzel Blast Mini Bar" as I type this.) I love Brussel sprouts! Goat.... well, you'll just have to let me know how that turns out!

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  2. I don't know where you put it. Honestly. And how dare you say foodie and diet in the same sentence?! There must be a law somewhere.

    And you will love brussel sprouts, especially roasted in olive oil!; and goat meat and cheese are excellent. You'll see.

    My motto is try everything once. Go for it!

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  3. A veritable ode to the love of food! And your exploratory quest is, I must say, awe-inspiring. As Maria, said, I hope to hear that you begin a new love affair (at the very least an infatuation) with Brussels sprouts. I, too, had shied away, but have since discovered the pungent, hearty flavor that goes wonderfully with either lemon, garlic and olive oil, or a delicious vinagrette - I enjoy mine sauteed and then carmelized to make them tender and almost sweet. Food and romance, certainly, go hand in hand (well, maybe not if you've had the sprouts . . .). Think of all the wonderful scenes in the great films - 2 that come to mind, though diametrically opposed, are Tom Jones and When Harry Met Sally. Good luck with your culinary adventures, and keep us posted on the sprouts!

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  4. "Will travel for food." I LOVE that line! LOL! And I love that you're a connoisseur of pizza. I love to find single food items that can be done a hundred different ways and then try to find my favorite. Thus the cupcake tour and the Korean Fried Chicken mission (though, I think that one has reached its end with Chicken(s) Factory.)

    I don't know if I'll ever try goat, but I do love his cheese :) And I met a plate of Brussels sprouts in Columbus, GA that I just couldn't get enough of. They were amazing!

    Fun and fantastic post, Fidencia! I can't wait to eat with you in Jersey City!! :)

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  5. Beautiful, Fidencia, just beautiful! Such a pleasure to read ~ even if I now have such a craving for pizza I almost can't stand it!!!

    Hug you,
    Sandy

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