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Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 7:40 PM
Amazing how the food we like is so personal. Do you ever wonder why you like the food you do, or why you eat a food a certain way? Is it because your family made the food that way, and that’s how you grew up eating it? Maybe that’s the way the food is made in your region? Take something as simple as a hamburger and look at all the different ways you can have it. When I was very young, I lived in Michigan, and all of my burgers had ketchup on them. Then when I moved to Texas, I didn’t like going to the burger place at first, because even the kid’s burger had mustard and onions. Slowly though, I learned to like mustard and now have no problem eating a burger with just mustard. Depending on the burger place, I may order my burger with mayonnaise and mustard. Sometimes, though when I am feeling like a kid again, I will revert back and have ketchup and mustard. It is interesting how food evolves and changes in different regions and even more interesting how we learn to like food a certain way, and then attach memories to food. BBQ sauce is a good example. Texas sauce is usually well balanced maybe with an added kick. Tennessee tends to be a bit sweeter adding a bit more molasses. Then the Carolinas are mustard and heavy vinegar. Just as people are evolving and changing each day, so does the food we eat. Soft drinks are another example. Texans tend to drink Dr. Pepper. If there is no Dr. Pepper probably Coke. Offer a Texan Pepsi and see what happens. They give you a funny look, and will order anything else on the menu. In the north though, people are more comfortable with Pepsi. The region we live in shapes so much of who we are and how we eat. So next time you are eating, think about it. Why am I eating it? Would someone else have ordered it differently? What does it say about me? Could this food explain where I come from? You may be surprised at your answers. It seems the words of that famous foodie Brillat-Savarin ring true still, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.”
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