Carrot Top

I thought it quite poetic, myself. It seemed as if all three fish were going to rise from their hiding place within the soft green leaves to SNAP! and BITE! in unison at whatever person brought a fork near them, though.

There is something about the idea of "porn" (in whatever field, which now seems to include food) that removes the reader (or viewer) further afield to an even greater distance from the actual (or usual or general) reality of things than any other metier of disclosure would. It does not strive for reality, nor does it really strive for beauty. It strives to reflect back upon itself in a simplified mirror-like fashion of self-involvement and narcissism. Whatever the thing is that is held in its gaze becomes somewhat demeaned, in this process somehow. It becomes objectified. It becomes the thing that is taken from a natural state and blown out of proportion into the desired shape of the author or media person that is shaping it. And they are shaping it for the purpose of pandering (which means "to cater to the lower tastes or desires of others, or to exploit their weaknesses"). It becomes the thing that talks about the thing that talks about the thing in ways that go round and round in incestuous circles till nobody even remembers what the original thing is - or what the original thing could become. The thing becomes fixed in time, something that has been chewed to death by chat and poking. It no longer glows. Fishnet stockings are wonderful things. They can be lots of fun in all sorts of ways. But I really don't want to see them draped coyly over the apple I buy from the grocery store.

"Food" is coming of age, Pontormo. At least "food" as we know it and speak of it in a general sense, here in our culture in the great US of A. And it is not coming of age prettily, in some ways. It would seem to me that a recalibration in terms of outlook would be desirable for many reasons. But those who are gawking at the apple cart would probably not agree that it should be upset. What can one do in an MTV world?

Porn is also fantasy. It is something the consumer of it dreams of--pure, wild, reckless sex, without any of the effort required to get it or the baggage that may come with it. I chuckled when I read the following passage in O'Neill's article: In other words, the appliance is itself pornography: desire displayed as though the display of it were its fulfillment. I assume the purchasers have hired help to wipe that sticky stuff up off the kitchen floor in front of the range. ← Porn *may* be fantasy - but I've had better dreams that emerged from my own imagination than anything I've ever seen anyone package up in an attempt to sell it for purposes of being able to afford their own "third wife" (a term I remember someone using here recently). And my dreams come without baggage, just as any second-hand media representation that was doled out to the world would. The idea of using the word "porn" attached to food just plain bothers me. I mean, what is next? (Right now, I am having some rather strange images run through my mind. . .phew.) If I were a banana split, I would definitely feel like following Rodney Dangerfield in saying the line "I don't get no respect." ...................................................... Yes, kitchen appliances as porn now, too. Ouch.

And to keep the subject "on topic" I'll add to your thoughts of banana splits, sb. "Food Porn" is something that when you look at it is composed of two words. Once upon a time I went to the dictionary and looked up the meanings of several words. One word was: pornography. The other word was: pandering. For somehow the two words flew together in my mind - I have no idea why it should be so. I forgot to look up "food" but rather based my definition upon my own knowledge. Oh well. ............................................. In reference to the article, I am no good at finding specific quotes to point to then reference this and that to the pointing finger. All I know is that food is a marvellous and sensual thing. That's what *I* know. And my personal feeling is that porn(ography) is a caricature of sexuality - and that there is little or no aspect of the sensual held within it. .................................................. I like words. It pisses me off when they seem ill-fitted to me. For then often, as our world is defined by the ways we use words, the reality follows the words used. Sigh. Must go find some ice-cream. Or a stiff drink.

Not one diaper but many. Many diapers. Ah, how I love this thread!!!

At least they were howls and not hoots! SB (been there ..... ← Why do you think they call that place "Hooters"? It's a righteous shout out to those who hoot. What *is* on that menu anyway?

I am in the midst of a daydream. I am standing in front of a room filled with people. And out of my mouth comes these words: "Improve each shining hour". ........................................................... Naturally, the room falls apart with howls of derisive laughter.

Sounds like the next step is to start up the wild drum music and build a bonfire started with broken pencils topped with 24 hours worth of papers. Roast a marshmallow or two. Hmm. They say warm milk is calming, but I never could stand that idea. My prescription would be a glass of fine old Burgundy for you, inny. And I bet, from the little I know of docsconz, that he would agree.

It was my mistake near the beginning to use the word "fiction" in reference to the book, Genny. I was just getting tangled up in trying to respond to what project said. Why that should happen I have no idea. From what I have now been told, the book is defined as "autobiography" or "memoir". And yes, a worthy thing to hold and look at and ponder as "path". Aside from all the rest of it.

Chefworld Hardball can be addictive.

I noticed that, Culinary Bear. It did raise the question in my mind as to whether they had been sent here to join and post in defense of Poor Dougie by the Empire of the Evil Psaltis Brother Twins, but then decided, nah.

I dunno. I was going to grow lambs once when I lived on land where there was. . .land. Seems to me if you have to do that rubber band thing to the boys when they are growing up one would want to eat them afterwards just to try to forget about the entire experience. Rubber bands THEN shearing? What would the poor fellows have left?

Anyone that does not respond to it - that will be their loss. Bring lots of good bread. If there are those that do not eat it, at least they will have seen it, smelled the fine aroma, and watched as others enjoyed it. That's a start, a memory that someday might push them right over the edge to take a bite.

There are many parts of the US where lamb is simply not available, and apparently never has been. Might be due (initially) to geography - lamb is best grown on certain sorts of land. Might be also cultural in the aspect of where it was that various ethnic groups settled when they initially came to the US and started agricultural development and/or animal husbandry. Unfortunately, I've met many people across the country who have never eaten lamb. It is not available in the grocery stores in these places - and the people have no urge to try it, as they seem to have a sort of fear of the taste of it. Yeah, scary. Woo-hoo! Anyway. The only recipe I have had any success with in terms of introducing lamb to The Ones Who Fear It is lamb chops marinated overnight in a yogurt/honey/mint/scallion/lemon juice marinade then grilled. The aroma of the marinade and the scent of the grilled meat takes away any initial fright - or at least gets the taste buds salivating enough so that they overcome fear. My favorite lamb recipes are the traditional rack, nicely covered with mustard and buttered crumbs then roasted - or a roast loin with winter vegetables and greens napped with a rich lamb demi-glace. Sigh. These are things to induce sweet dreams. Edited to add (as I see Milagai reading ) "To induce sweet dreams -* unless*- you are vegetarian." That is okay, too. . .the fruits of the earth can induce the same dreams - just differently angled.

On a more serious note (for one split second) these ideas have reference both to the concepts of "humours" that each person was said have as their basic constitution of personality and "self" in the Middle Ages (can't remember the exact dates nor the exact humours, though I *was* actually there at the time) and also to Avurvedic philosophy and thoughts on how each person with their varying personality types "should" eat to maintain ultimate balance. And I see my two children each day - two vastly different personality types - with two vastly differing urges for types of foods - and two vastly different physical/emotional responses to foods that they do eat. Interesting subject, inny.

Eh. Here's more on the subject - not anywhere near as amusing as the story you linked to , inny, but we may as well add to the pile of information and lists of reports, no? (What I would like to see is a study of how it is all media outlets seem to start talking about the same exact thing -that is not tied to any formal external event - in such a very close time frame. It seems to happen so often!) Clickey: Food and Mood Unless! It could be the reason these stories are coming out now, of course, is that everyone is thinking of preparing each other emotionally for the holiday season. And it *would* no doubt be good for conversation round the dinner table where the family was gathered: "Two servings of potatoes? Now I KNOW you've been living alone too long!! When are you going to get married?!" "Shhh. Look at Marie. That big bowl of ice-cream. Must be depressed over the extra weight she's put on." "That's the second turkey leg Phil has eaten down to the bone. I KNEW he was cheating on Alexa!!! There's the proof!!!!" Meow.

In practical terms (which to me means "what I see before my own eyes" ) yes, I would agree that certain foods are desired when people are in certain moods. It's also a contention of mine (again, based on my own peculiar brand of reality ) that certain personality "types" crave certain types of foods over others, and that given a choice of how to build their own daily diets, they do so along predictable lines in terms of food choices. But I agree with docsconz also. I don't think that an imposition of a certain diet based on certain types of foods will alter a person's basic personality type or the moods that emit from them. It *might* do so, if the "diet" were to be assumed by the person by personal choice - but then of course that personal choice of decision that was involved would be the impetus for the desired change - not the food itself, which would or could be a "carrier" then of the intent. Basically, though, foods are composed of chemicals that do influence our bodily systems, and medicines (or is the right word to use today "pharmaceuticals"? ) are derived from the same things that we use for food - so the connection is not that far-fetched, at all. Right now I am not hungry at all. Wonder what that means.

Eh. The steak did look good, Bill. Too good to be in the photo on this thread. Just trying to help you out here, guy. It was such a prize-winning photo other than that damn good-looking steak.

I've never heard of that. A lightheaded "I need carbs" feeling? Are you sure this isn't something that affects only the ancient gods of music that wander the earth endlessly? Has anyone else experienced this? ← Ask any cyclist about 'The Bonk', a need for water an food, a bannana perhaps or a Mars Bar. From being a wobbly idiot with tears in your eyes, in 15 minutes all is under control and you are ready for the next 20 miles. ← I was just teasing Pan, for he is a nice man. Yeah, "The Bonk". (Heh.) But really, I agree. Bicycling or any intense sport would certainly induce real need for nutrients by the body.

There is a sense in the professional kitchen of eating that happens just from the sheer physical involvement with the food all day. The flavors seep into people that spend their time there, and are filling all on their own. Of course some beer after work helps balance that bread-and-butter diet. After all, if many people survived in past centuries on the nourishment that beer provides alone, with a chunk of bread or two, why not us? Nice to have you at eG, Zach, and to have read your third post!

I would agree with you, Marcia. True hunger is something I think few people have felt if they have grown up in an average American household. It just has not been forced upon us, this hunger for enough food to make our bodies run. I can remember feeling truly hungry for food only several times in my life. Both those times where when I was barely fourteen years old, trying to survive as a runaway from home. What sparks my hunger is emotion. The emotion of wanting to share a meal with someone, as I do with my children. It is not my stomach grumbling that makes my tastebuds tingle, nor is it the aromas of the food - though the fine smells do create a stronger urge to eat. The emotion, sometimes, of feeling a bit "empty" in a world where a solid and measurable success in anything is hard to find and even harder to define, unless it is in blunt financial terms. And finally, as anyone knows who has had enough money, the money does not make the cherry on the top of the ice cream all that joyous in a lasting or deeply meaningful way. The emotional sense of dissonance in a world that is loud and in-your-face everywhere you turn - this sometimes makes me hungry - it makes me want to put something in my mouth for a feeling of reality, the reality that food simply "is" without question, in and of itself, without the extraneous intellectual meanderings around and about the subject. The food is there to make us feel full. The food is there to make us feel solid. I wish that the food, for many people, could be a happier thing than what it is. I also wish that the food did not have to carry this burden of satisfying urges that really require a different sort of satisfaction for a true answer to the question that is subliminally being asked. I am lucky that food has not eaten me within these parameters - plain lucky to have been given enough emotional balance to be able to enjoy it for itself apart from these things, and to not be made overweight or unhealthy because of it. But I do wonder at what is going on, as I look around me and see the hunger. A hunger that seems to be for many things, but a hunger that is answered by eating.

It might be said that no menu is complete without spagetttti. I am also very pleased to see you post again, too. A Happy Ramadan to all in all possible ways.

Not that I intend to argue that he has "emotional pain" one way or the other, for that would be rather ridiculous, but in the 49 years I've spent on this planet I have not noticed that "emotional pain" is something that guys, in particular, wish to share with other guys or with the world-at-large. That just brings on more bashing. But that does not mean that men who do not weep or whine do not have "the finer" feelings. Sigh. Whatever.