In The Beginning

This is my brand new spiffy blog.  Here I will be posting my thoughts on all things having to do with food, drink, eating and drinking. There will be posts on the growing, harvesting, delivery, preparing and consuming of food and drink as well as the politics of today's food culture.

I have had a fifty year love affair with all things gourmand and have been cooking since I was 10 years old. I love good "food" shows - shows about food and cooking, not the recipe shows seen on Food Network.  I was fascinated by the antics of The Galloping Gourmet and Julia Child when I was a kid.  And even now I spend my Saturday afternoons glued to the TV tuned to PBS.  I read cookbooks like they are novels and have bookshelves full of books on cuisine, ingredients, techniques and sourcing.  But when it comes to a style of my own I am afraid I am at a loss to define one.  Food to me is the ultimate personal experience and taste the most subjective of opinion.  As much as I enjoy my own food, I also enjoy the food prepared for me by others.  I feel that when we cook and serve our families and friends it says much about how we feel about them and ourselves.  While time doesn't always allow for gourmet cuisine even a quick hotdog before rushing the kids to hockey can say something about our approach to food and feeding.  At times food can be an expression of our creativity, our passions and our emotions but, when it is all said and done, it needs to nourish and sustain.  This, I think, is where western society struggles with its relationship with food.

I will try to demystify the culinary arts and cut through the jargon of preparing and consuming food and drink.  One way is to hold regular tastings with my friends - a wide variety of individuals with varying degrees of expertise with all things culinary.  I want to have a monthly wine tasting featuring decent affordable examples of varieties from around the world with at least one Canadian example included.  I will then post the results here, which I think will surprise people.  I will look for new products to comment on.  I will give opinion on food trends, food supply and food related news.  I hope that anyone reading this blog will leave a comment letting me know what they think and correcting me when they see the need so that together we may grow in our knowledge.  

"May your glass always be filled with warm memories and your mouth with the taste of a life well lived"