By early last January, with all the rich food I'd eaten at holiday parties, I'd reached the point where if I looked at another fancy cheese, or had to smell premium chocolate again, I was going to be sick.

My idea this year is to have a convivial, sugar-free, alcohol-free solstice gathering in December and intentionally serve food that's filling, but on the drab side. Lentils in a pot, lightly seasoned. Brown rice. Steamed greens. Maybe a bit of fresh fruit of some kind. That's it. You're likely going to get enough extravagant food this time of year, you don't need me adding to your quota. Just come, and enjoy yourself.

My concept isn't that pleasure is bad, but that over-indulgence is over-rated. After a while, expensive brandy isn't fun anymore. Maybe you need a break.

Talking up this party idea recently, I was describing intended fare as "food your ancestors would have been glad for." A raw-foodist with whom I'm acquainted sneeringly asked me "where our ancestors would have found food like that."

Well, it depends on how far back into history you go, and which continent you're on. I think most cultures have some kind of legume or other they make porridge out of, and rice, or its equivalent.

If you want your simple-food concept to pre-date farming, as I suppose this woman was advocating, what would you do, serve mounds of raw greens with a bit of venison? Maybe "go Inuit," and offer raw fish and whale blubber at the buffet table? Mmm. Yeah.

To even sweat over "authenticity" in simple food is a bit fancier than I want to get here.

It's a sort of "anti-party."
5:14:29 PM    comment []