Thursday, November 16, 2006
After One Comes Out from Under Their Rock...
After a lifetime of bland flavored grease, Shelly braved up and decided to go to the celebratory feast her friend Becca invited her to.
Having survived a long famine of flavor, she stood before the feasting table and was amazed and terrified at the foods she saw and smelled before her. There were vegie dishes, desserts, raw fruits and vegetables, cookies, meats, sauces, squash, mushrooms, cheeses, crackers, breads, drinks and many unrecognizable delights that intrigued and horrified her.
Shelly did occasionally have variety in her diet, but it was usually unappreciated and usually unpleasant for her. But this, this was amazing. There was Love all over this table. People worked for hours and in some cases days to prepare some of these delicious, and in some cases, unrecognizable dishes. And there it all was, tempting and terrifying her nose, heart, and palate. Shelly did not come from a family that cooked or Loved like this.
"Becca, I've never eaten like this," she told her friend.
"Enjoy!" Becca said with a smile. Becca could tell that Shelly was both delighted and disturbed and understood why.
"I know your diet," Becca explained. "I've been to your house. You may want to take it slow, here. I was taught by a healer one time that sometimes when healing takes place it starts out more painful but the pain goes away and the flow becomes good. Maybe it's the same with food? You're gonna open yourself up to new tastes, smells, and Love. Not always easy, but always good."
Shelly picked up a plate, then shyly scooped up a spoonful of wild mushroom gravy. She hated mushrooms, their texture and their flavor, so she thought if she was going to be adventurous, she should start with the dish that she recognized that she knew she would normally hate the most. She stepped back from the table and let strangers pass by, scoop up food with smiles and conversation and greet her. She would smile and nod at those that greeted her. She noticed that no matter how much food people took, there always seemed to be more.
Shelly dipped her spoon shyly in the gravy. She had a tiny half penny size of the liquid upon her spoon. She eyed it suspiciously, then realized, it really wasn't enough to receive an actual taste, the actual "flavor" of the dish, and there weren't any mushrooms. She threw off all concern about personal food safety, which was basically if it had "flavor," it wasn't safe. She scooped up several large pieces of waxy weird looking mushroom and bravely shoved the whole thing in her mouth. She removed the spoon quickly so that if she wanted it to be out of her mouth she would have to spit it out and embarass herself and the food preparer which she knew she didn't want to do. She left the food in her mouth. Her eyes half squinted then started to quiver as this horrifying strange flavor and texture filled her mouth. She started slowly moving the food around her mouth with her tongue and the strange flavors terrified her heart and mind but her tongue was oddly delighted and doing a dance. She started chewing and her body tensed at the strange texture of the delightfully terrifying dish. She crushed the mushrooms with her teeth, feeling the strange spongy texture in her mouth and against her tongue and her body tensed further and her eyes twitched harder.
It was like a wind of clean fresh air through cedars in the spring. Like the wind of flavor was coming down noisily from the mountains and then...then...THEN!!! CRASH!
It hit her all at once! Like a tidal wave of wind that she experienced on her camping trips by the mountain. Her body relaxed and there was a strange flood of energy into her whole body. Her eyes quit twitching and were now wide open with delight. She didn't think anything like this would ever happen to her, she didn't know what it even was. She swallowed and her body warmed even deeper. She scooped another spoonful of the wild mushroom gravy and shoved it into her mouth and was again delighted at its flavor and texture.
"Hello," said a young man who just appeared beside her. "You like that?" he asked as she was in mid chew.
Shelly looked at him and nodded shyly.
"I made that," he said, and Shelly was shocked! She didn't know men could cook like this. "It's an old family recipe handed down by my Uncle Robert. He used to live out in the woods and every fall he would make all sorts of dishes using wild mushrooms. This one was my particular favorite. I kind of made it my own using a few different spices than Uncle Robert did. Do you like it?"
Shelly nodded as her mouth was still filled with the food.
The young man smiled and continued down the line, forgetting his manners and not introducing himself to this stranger.
Shelly went wild, but controlled herself. She would scoop a new dish onto her plate, stand back and experience the new flavor and texture. Some she didn't like as much as others. Some were the most delighful experience in her life. A few she didn't care for too much. But each piece, each morsel, was a wonderful and delighful experience and she felt like she had been reborn into the world.
She saw Becca across the feasting table smiling at her. She smiled back.
"SORRY WE'RE LATE!" she heard a loud male voice. There were four men in skirts carrying a large tray with an unrecognizable steaming dish. Men in skirts! She wanted to look under them and suddenly understood the male desire to look under women's skirts. She delighted in their bare, pale, hairy knees. There was much fanfare by these men around this strange looking dish. A few brief speeches were made and a recitation of a poem, "Address to the Haggis," she heard it called, but could barely make out the words as the men spoke with some strange accent. Finally it was sliced open and steam poured out. A spoon was inserted.
People started digging in, and Shelly got in line with them. She scooped a bit of the strange looking steaming dish onto her plate then found a solitary space to experience this odd dish. She placed the hot food in her mouth and immediately thought "earth." Her face lit with delight like the sunrise through the cedars on the camping trips she had taken. Her spirit filled with the land and the people and she knew that from this day forward...she would never be the same.
Having survived a long famine of flavor, she stood before the feasting table and was amazed and terrified at the foods she saw and smelled before her. There were vegie dishes, desserts, raw fruits and vegetables, cookies, meats, sauces, squash, mushrooms, cheeses, crackers, breads, drinks and many unrecognizable delights that intrigued and horrified her.
Shelly did occasionally have variety in her diet, but it was usually unappreciated and usually unpleasant for her. But this, this was amazing. There was Love all over this table. People worked for hours and in some cases days to prepare some of these delicious, and in some cases, unrecognizable dishes. And there it all was, tempting and terrifying her nose, heart, and palate. Shelly did not come from a family that cooked or Loved like this.
"Becca, I've never eaten like this," she told her friend.
"Enjoy!" Becca said with a smile. Becca could tell that Shelly was both delighted and disturbed and understood why.
"I know your diet," Becca explained. "I've been to your house. You may want to take it slow, here. I was taught by a healer one time that sometimes when healing takes place it starts out more painful but the pain goes away and the flow becomes good. Maybe it's the same with food? You're gonna open yourself up to new tastes, smells, and Love. Not always easy, but always good."
Shelly picked up a plate, then shyly scooped up a spoonful of wild mushroom gravy. She hated mushrooms, their texture and their flavor, so she thought if she was going to be adventurous, she should start with the dish that she recognized that she knew she would normally hate the most. She stepped back from the table and let strangers pass by, scoop up food with smiles and conversation and greet her. She would smile and nod at those that greeted her. She noticed that no matter how much food people took, there always seemed to be more.
Shelly dipped her spoon shyly in the gravy. She had a tiny half penny size of the liquid upon her spoon. She eyed it suspiciously, then realized, it really wasn't enough to receive an actual taste, the actual "flavor" of the dish, and there weren't any mushrooms. She threw off all concern about personal food safety, which was basically if it had "flavor," it wasn't safe. She scooped up several large pieces of waxy weird looking mushroom and bravely shoved the whole thing in her mouth. She removed the spoon quickly so that if she wanted it to be out of her mouth she would have to spit it out and embarass herself and the food preparer which she knew she didn't want to do. She left the food in her mouth. Her eyes half squinted then started to quiver as this horrifying strange flavor and texture filled her mouth. She started slowly moving the food around her mouth with her tongue and the strange flavors terrified her heart and mind but her tongue was oddly delighted and doing a dance. She started chewing and her body tensed at the strange texture of the delightfully terrifying dish. She crushed the mushrooms with her teeth, feeling the strange spongy texture in her mouth and against her tongue and her body tensed further and her eyes twitched harder.
It was like a wind of clean fresh air through cedars in the spring. Like the wind of flavor was coming down noisily from the mountains and then...then...THEN!!! CRASH!
It hit her all at once! Like a tidal wave of wind that she experienced on her camping trips by the mountain. Her body relaxed and there was a strange flood of energy into her whole body. Her eyes quit twitching and were now wide open with delight. She didn't think anything like this would ever happen to her, she didn't know what it even was. She swallowed and her body warmed even deeper. She scooped another spoonful of the wild mushroom gravy and shoved it into her mouth and was again delighted at its flavor and texture.
"Hello," said a young man who just appeared beside her. "You like that?" he asked as she was in mid chew.
Shelly looked at him and nodded shyly.
"I made that," he said, and Shelly was shocked! She didn't know men could cook like this. "It's an old family recipe handed down by my Uncle Robert. He used to live out in the woods and every fall he would make all sorts of dishes using wild mushrooms. This one was my particular favorite. I kind of made it my own using a few different spices than Uncle Robert did. Do you like it?"
Shelly nodded as her mouth was still filled with the food.
The young man smiled and continued down the line, forgetting his manners and not introducing himself to this stranger.
Shelly went wild, but controlled herself. She would scoop a new dish onto her plate, stand back and experience the new flavor and texture. Some she didn't like as much as others. Some were the most delighful experience in her life. A few she didn't care for too much. But each piece, each morsel, was a wonderful and delighful experience and she felt like she had been reborn into the world.
She saw Becca across the feasting table smiling at her. She smiled back.
"SORRY WE'RE LATE!" she heard a loud male voice. There were four men in skirts carrying a large tray with an unrecognizable steaming dish. Men in skirts! She wanted to look under them and suddenly understood the male desire to look under women's skirts. She delighted in their bare, pale, hairy knees. There was much fanfare by these men around this strange looking dish. A few brief speeches were made and a recitation of a poem, "Address to the Haggis," she heard it called, but could barely make out the words as the men spoke with some strange accent. Finally it was sliced open and steam poured out. A spoon was inserted.
People started digging in, and Shelly got in line with them. She scooped a bit of the strange looking steaming dish onto her plate then found a solitary space to experience this odd dish. She placed the hot food in her mouth and immediately thought "earth." Her face lit with delight like the sunrise through the cedars on the camping trips she had taken. Her spirit filled with the land and the people and she knew that from this day forward...she would never be the same.
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