13 December 2021

Food

I feel sorry for people who have a difficult relationship with food. Fortunately, this is not something that has ever afflicted any members of my family as far as I know. We sit down to meals with delighted anticipation, our taste-buds drooling.

One often hears these passing remarks about eating - "I like my food", "He likes his food" and "She likes her food". What the? Doesn't everybody like their food? Well no, they don't. A small percentage of people struggle with eating. They realise it is necessary and that it ought to be relished but somehow when plates of food are placed in front of them, psychological alarm bells ring.

Once, I knew a petite woman who had developed an array of tactics to camouflage what I now realise was an eating disorder. To begin with, she never wanted much on her plate. Then, in company,  as the meal began, she would start talking. There I would be trying to shovel spadefuls of lovely grub down the tunnel of my hunger and she would be yakking away instead of tucking in.

I noticed her tiny mouthfuls and the way she pushed food around her plate. There were always leftovers which she might attempt to hide with a paper napkin. She never fancied dessert and once I heard her vomiting in the bathroom ten minutes after eating. I did not know her well enough to quiz her about her eating habits and besides I wouldn't have known what to say.

Yesterday afternoon, I prepared yet another Sunday dinner for my COVID companions - my lovely wife, my lovely daughter, my lovely son-in-law and my lovely granddaughter. How come I am not lovely?

On the menu was a basted pork loin joint, savoy cabbage, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, Yorkshire puddings, homemade gravy, apple sauce and a vegetable I grew on our vegetable plot this year - kohlrabi. Preparing the kohlrabi was difficult as the bulbous root vegetables - somewhat like small turnips had attracted a slug fest in the summer. The little blighters had tunnelled hither and thither, leaving hollows and deep indentations. It was all I could do to make a small pan of clean white chunks of kohlrabi. Maybe this is why I last grew it twenty five years ago.

Anyway, there were no eating disorders visible at the table. As usual, we all got stuck in. The pork was tender, the potatoes were crispy, the gravy was flavoursome and the kohlrabi was sweet and turnipy if indeed "turnipy" is a word. There was New Zealand sauvignon blanc to drink and Stew had a bottle of McEwan's best bitter. Once again, Little Phoebe enjoyed her Yorkshire pudding and of course she is one. Just like me.

Come to think of it, our esteemed prime minister could also be described as "turnipy"... Who would have ever imagined that this great nation would one day be led by a bulbous globe of kohlrabi?

28 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:56 am

    I would certainly relish sitting down to your roast dinner. I'd even try your kohl... whatever but I am not fond of 'neeps'.

    While I enjoy food, I rather wish I didn't have to eat.

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  2. That kohlrabi looks more well groomed than the PM ever does!

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  3. Miaow! He is trying to resurrect himself at the moment, who will fall for this latest ploy of a million vacs a day? Sajid Javid was full of praise for him this morning. God I hate creeps;), the Tories hanging on to power.
    As an aside I enjoy food, but watch with amazement all the fads that are now going around.

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    1. Johnson is trying to turn the tide on his plunging public image by using the pandemic to imply that he is a serious statesman. Last Wednesday's Downing Street briefing was obviously pulled together with that intent. Privately, I wonder what professors Vallance and Whitty think of him.

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  4. I love turnip soup.

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    Replies
    1. They are one of my favourite bands too.

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  5. Your Sunday lunch sounds sumptuous. I would need a week to sleep it all off.

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    1. You would have to get the washing up done first JayCee.

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  6. If the PM was replaced with a bulbous globe of kohlrabi, would anyone notice?

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    Replies
    1. Only the gardener who planted the kohlrabi.

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  7. I wish I could come for a meal. it sounds wonderful.And you are lovely!

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    1. Terry - you will be welcome if you have good table manners.

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  8. Please take a picture of one of your Sunday dinners for us sometime.
    Also- aren't you past due when it comes to a photo of Phoebe?

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    Replies
    1. New photos of Phoebe should appear here on Wednesday.

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  9. As a young woman (I was about 20), I suffered anorexia for a while. I fully understood the why and how I developed it, which made it easier for me to overcome it, without needing professional help. But it wasn't nice, and I was constantly angry and tired and simply unhappy.
    Thankfully, I am well past that, but having been through such a rough patch myself I understand how difficult it can be.

    O.K. and I are both fond of cheese, bread and wine - it's our favourite Friday night meal to mark the start of the weekend. We are fortunate in that we can afford it; good cheese can be very expensive, and wine also, of course. And don't get me started on high quality chocolate!
    Trying to shop and eat responsibly does not make things easier, but I am happy that my nearest supermarket (Aldi) has a good stock of organic fruit, veg, eggs, dairy products and even meat. I admire the Bosh! boys and everyone else who forego all animal products - it would be hard for me to let cheese go.

    Now I have an image in my mind of little Phoebe, enjoying a home-made Yorkshire pudding, surrounded by four grown-ups who love her to bits.

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    1. Yes. It is a nice image and an accurate one too. As for cheese, Ian thinks that vegan cheeses have come on in leaps and bounds. Sorry to hear that you once struggled with anorexia.

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  10. I'm blessed/cursed with an adventuresome attitude towards food. I'll pretty much try anything once. The only exception to that has been balut or fertilized duck eggs fermented in the sand for a period of time before consumption. I haven't ruled out trying it entirely, but I probably won't go seeking it out either and my close calls with it to date, have had easy outs which I took.

    We grew kohlrabi for the first time this year. Loved it and we plan to plant quite a bit more next year. But we didn't have any problems with bugs either.

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    1. Mmmmmm! Fertilized duck eggs fermented in sand! Yummy! Do McDonalds sell this tasty dish?

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  11. I think comparing the PM to a kohlrabi is needlessly cruel...to the kohlrabi.

    Who says you're not lovely, YP?

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    1. Ha-ha! I like the top quip. As for the last question, the answer boils down to honest self-analysis.

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  12. You made a very delicious dinner. I enjoy it. However, I realize that there are people with eating disorders.

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    1. I wish you could join us for Sunday dinner Red.

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  13. I like cooking and eating but I am a picky eater. It used to embarrass me no end but now accept it. I have a hard time with textures in food and I'm not alone. It seems to run in my family. I also don't like bitter flavors.

    When I was a kid I was probably anorexic. I think between being a picky eater and having controlling parents, it's all I had. I do love my cookies though:) And I am no longer skinny.

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    1. I am a picky eater too Nurse Lily. I pick the food up and I eat it.

      Sorry. I should not be making light of this given your past history. Please forgive me for my silliness.

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    2. I love kohlrabi and have grown it a couple times a long time ago. Dinner sounds delicious. I love food but am no gourmet. My son-in-law eats anything except fish and is indifferent to food whereas I am not.

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    3. I find it hard to understand how anybody can be "indifferent" to food.

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