Guest Editor: Chris Manganaro
With
food comes hunger. They are inseparable from one another, two sides
of the same coin. On a daily basis it is likely that the word hungry
crosses the lips or mind of every human being in the world at least
once. We all think we know hunger, but it is a feeling which measures
differently for everyone. Hunger is a word with more weight than we
sometimes realize.
What
makes a chef depends very much upon life experience. Memoirs like
Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood,
Bones, & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
are
not uncommon as they reveal much about their authors through
interactions with food which brought them into their current career
path. Hamilton’s story is a bit different than others, of course.
One of the reasons she believes in her ability to be a chef is due to
her experiences with hunger.
Her
trip through Europe with only so much to her name is where she
reflects on this, though we see points of hunger before this, even in
her childhood. Unlike many chefs, who have formed palettes from
refinement, we see Hamilton experience quite a bit of the opposite in
her early life. After her parent’s divorce, she even has to fend
for herself. Hunger has played quite a part in her life. It
culminates and hits her in that time in Europe when a simple meal
unlocks such thoughts of how specific hunger is and how it can make
the mind fully form the flavors of craved cuisine.
It
is through these times of hunger in which Hamilton is also taught
hospitality. By being generously offered food when at the lowest
points in life, she learns the true essence of what food can offer
people and is able to transfer that experience to owning a
restaurant.
While
her understanding of hunger is not necessarily the whole picture, it
makes a great deal of sense that a true chef should have some idea
about hunger as well as the way it works alongside hospitality. We
cannot separate hunger from food. There is an obvious reason for
that. They go hand in hand.
For more recipes, dishes go to The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm BLOG at www.marialiberati.com
