Friday, July 3, 2009

Food is a Love Builder


Eric and I had an Asian film marathon last night. My idea. (Are you surprised? :) I'm so blessed that Eric loves me enough to put up with my passion for Asia... even to the extent that he'll watch 6 hours of depressing/strange Chinese and Taiwanese films with me. Ah... what a lucky girl I am. :)

One of the films we watched was filled with food. It played an integral part to the characterization, expression of emotion, and symbolized suffering or fulfilled love. Very intriguing, especially since you get to watch authentic traditional Chinese food being prepared in minutes. (they make it look so easy!) But something that really struck me is how valuable food is to relationships. Really. I mean think about it. When you want to celebrate, what do you do? Make a big meal (Thanksgiving and Christmas), eat out at fancy restaurants (anniversaries and birthdays), bar-b-que (Fourth of July, Memorial Day), etc. When you want to spend time with friends, you invite them over for dinner and a movie. When you want to show someone you are thinking of them, you bring them cookies or brownies. When a neighbor moves in, you offer to bring over dinner or --ha ha-- jello! New baby? Food. Funeral? Food. Wedding? Food. Dating? Food. As a wife and mother, one of the ways I demonstrate love and sacrifice is by making delicious meals for my family. And when Eric wants to show his appreciation for me on Valentine's Day, he makes me fancy Italian.

You know how girls often remember events by visual elements ('I was wearing the light blue button up shirt', 'you had on that red and purple tie', 'the leaves were just bleeding to rusts and bronzes', etc)? Well, Eric (and perhaps guys in general?) always remember the food. If I want to jog his memory about a person or place, mentioning clothing or accessories gets me nowhere. I have to talk food ('we had the awesome dessert pizza', 'they had the best steak!', 'you remember, she brought the ham wrapped pickles to the party'--that example, btw, is something Eric actually said to me last week!). Memories are tied to food.

Spending intimate time with loved ones often begins with cooking a favorite meal together, picnicing at the park, sharing a bottle of martinelli, etc. Isn't our relationship with food interesting? How it actually is a catalyst for bringing people together too? Why do you think that is?

4 comments:

  1. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that, in our society anyway, we don't give ourselves many opportunities to socialize and communicate without food.

    Have you ever seen To Live? It's an awesome (and yes, depressing) Chinese film. We watched it in middle school, and my sister and I still remember it and quote from it. (For some reason, most especially "One bun on the stomach . . ." part.)

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  2. I think food brings us together because it says, "Wow, you can take something mundane I HAVE to do on a daily basis and make it fun and delicious!" Eating is something we have in common, and it's delightful to mix it up!

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  3. Steve still talks about the food at our reception...and how he didn't get any of it. It's becoming a joke...lol.

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  4. Um, yes.....guys travel on their stomachs. :)

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