Wednesday, September 09, 2009

butta la pasta


In China I knew a guy who was a real foodie, meaning food was pretty much all he talked about. Somehow every conversation morphed into a monologue on broccoli, or parsley, or new things to do with peanut butter. Eventually people started cutting him off. You’d ask him what time it was and it was either breakfast or lunch time, or Peking duck season. I’m not one of those people who think cooking is a work of art, though it’s nice to have friends who do. Mostly I’d rather be doing something else. It’s a let-down to cook for 2-3 hours to have people finish eating in 10 minutes. Then the clean-up. To be honest, I’m not even that much into eating. But I do like looking at pictures of food in glossy cookbooks. It must be akin to what a teenage boy feels leafing through Playboy, and the objects of desire are just as unattainable. Mostly if I don’t have to feed anyone but myself I just take down the box of cornflakes and spread a handful out on the table. No bowl or anything, though I might wash it down with milk. From the carton. This saves doing dishes. I pick through the cornflakes, eating and browsing, searching for the jackpot piece that looks like Illinois.

9 comments:

ron hardy said...

Cereal abstractions.I haven't done that in so long. I would take wheat chex or rice and move them around on the table or in the bowl until they formed a bird or a hillside. Then i would eat my work. Islands formed when milk was added to chocolate pudding. Usually the Hawaiians. And still now a momentary hurricane when cream is swirled in coffee or tea.

SarahJane said...

I believe Richard Dreyfuss did this with his mashed potatoes in Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.
I like the idea of eating your work.
My cornflake work is complete dada.
Which brings me back to those Hans Arp cookie cutters I want for Christmas.

SarahJane said...

there - i put richard up for you. I loved that scene.

Anonymous said...

Not so much an abstraction for me at all. I eat cereal from the box all the time, and find China and Taiwan shapes battling each other out, epically.

ron hardy said...

Mind reader. I love it too. Every time I see that scene I have to go out and make them. It makes me hungry and with gravy you've got Crater Lake. mmm...

ron hardy said...

I saw some knock-offs of the Arp cookie cutters in Ikea. No two of them are alike. I used to have a wrought iron Klee pancake mold that made a mouse. I lost it in a move. And yes your cornflake work is unreasonable. I could see it as an anti-war statement.

Valerie Loveland said...

I like to eat, but I only like the easy kind of food. I can't eat a lot of junk food anymore because of the sugar, but luckily there are a lot of easy healthy things to eat too.

Anonymous said...

I run long distance and eat while running. I thought it was odd when I first started but now I sort of like it. I'm thinking mashed with loads of butter for my next run sounds pretty good.

SarahJane said...

I would like to be able to cook while running.

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