At one recent gathering I explained to our host that I had embarked on a new career direction. I teach traditional American home cooking in the desire to preserve our many great food traditions. With a rather blank and puzzled look our host replied in bemused manner that, well “I guess someone has to do it”. The conversation ended as abruptly as it had begun as our host went off to greet other guests.
I simply chuckled to myself and left to mingle. Many “foodies” continue to be culinary chauvinists, perhaps misplaced at times, but this I suppose helps keep the passions alive. For me, however, food snobbery and pretentiousness has always left a bad taste in my mouth. No pun intended.
I consider myself to be a culinary dinosaur steeped in the desire to hold on to the simple home cooking traditions of different era. Never a mover and shaker in cutting edge cuisine I leave that to the creative genius of the few “who-done-its” of the greatest magnitude that are moving American cooking into a different dimension. But alas there are so few that do it well. Most of these create concoctions that have little base in harmony, balance and flavor creating at best elements of “con-fusion”. Dishes are regulated to the individual talents of cooks and chefs but few have yet withstood time to become a part of our national culinary heritage. Many dishes have been adopted into American food traditions in past decades, these dishes not being innovations but culinary traditions from other lands via study and travel abroad or new immigration. That is another story.
There is a great new movement in the land today. Chefs, cooks and consumers are becoming more conscious of the value of local and sustainable ingredients enjoyed in its own season. American cooking traditions were built on this principle. You ate what you produced or could procure when in season or you preserved for times when it was not available.
In American Food, The Gastronomical Story, Evan Jones wrote “Americans with an appreciative interest in food could find inspiration and renewal in looking back to the past.” From this awareness we can bridge the gap between tradition and innovation. This reminds me of a song learned in elementary school:
Make new friends but keep the old
One is silver and the other gold
My dear friend David has often said that I have forgotten more than most remember. He was speaking of chocolate confectionery but I find amuse in the statement generality. One thing for certain, after passing the half century mark of my life some time ago I came upon a great revelation. When young and in our twenties we think we know everything. But when we grow older the realization comes to us that we don’t really know squat. I suppose that this is a humble way of saying that you can teach an old dog new tricks. There is always something to learn with the dawn of each new day. This, me thinks, is an advantage of age.
