Loving Food

Was frying up some rice this morning, listening to that sizzle sound. I posted something on Insta (since I am addicted to it, (y’all are, too! haha)) about how it was ASMR. It really is, though. Encompassing so many feelings into one thing that quickly becomes calm. Food has been my therapist for a long time. All five of my senses activated at once, in the juuuust right way. I love it even when I hate it.

The cooking part is just one element of how food is therapy and medicine. All of that slicing, dicing, tasting and plating. Eating it is of course the biggest bonus. Wait, but is it? Sometimes, but when you eat it with other people?! Now that one gets the prize.

Was just talking with a friend about a meal us and our partners shared on a trip to Mexico City. We were in the lively burb of Orinoco one night, had some Mezcal and crickets and fancy cocktails crafted by bartenders in Christmas sweaters. I don’t even remember if we’d had a late lunch or early dinner but we did end up at late night tacos, here at Taquería Orinoco . We giggled all the way inside that door then our jaws were on the floor until we left with how damn good those tacos were.

They were long-slicing meat off that thing that turns, then searing it on a hot griddle. Everybody cooking behind the countertops played a vital role in the efficiency, the taste, the vibe. We even snagged four perfect seats in a row looking out into the streets. It was bustling in there. There were so many dipping sauces and charred citrus and corn tortillas and flour tortillas and I can’t even remember if there were beans but probably corn? Who even knows.

Everything about it was perfect, but the company was the best part. Being there with people you really love and listening to each others’ audible taste bud applause. Mmm, sheesh, oh my God. We used our hands to eat and our hearts to feel connected for life in this one meal.

That happens ALL the time at gatherings of people where there is food. People are so funny and loving and caring and compassionate at their deep, rooted cores. Sometimes it is really hard to see it, I hear ya. But sitting down to have a meal together solidifies how truly human all of us are. The ways in which we are the same and the stark contrast of how different we are.

Eating in a room full of people who are different than us can be full of all sorts of really frustrating things, but most of the time it is really good.