About Food Blog #6

 The most important activity is eating – we do it every day, several times a day!

I was born in Europe so it is difficult for me to understand how Americans eat. It has baffled me for the last 70 years. 

First and foremost in Poland before World War II we were "too poor" for chemicals so everything was organic, and I thought that is the only way to grow food!  Suddenly at the age of 26 in America, I saw a whole new way of eating and serving food.  The influence of the USA of grabbing junk food has now been introduced all over the world. Imagine seeing a MacDonald’s in France with a line of young people intrigued with the novelty!?  I hope they don’t lose the taste for the true local foods.  It used to be that the whole family sat together for a main meal at 1 or 2 o’clock.  At 4 o’clock there was coffee, tea, and something home baked.  People had a light supper in the evening.  The only observation I can make is never, if one can possibly help it, eat a big meal at night.  It intrudes into your sleep, as the digestion takes place much too late to allow you to have a relaxed night.

The greatest pleasure when I was a child was to come home and smell from a mile away our maid cooking raspberries, or whatever was then in season, in a huge pot, to be put up for the winter.  Pasta was made in the morning, and cooked that same day, not stored on a shelf for months.  Milk and ice were delivered every morning to the house. The French and Italians still go shopping each day for fresh food.  Impossible in America where the fridge and pantry are always full of prepared foods.  I was stunned that I came from a supposedly poor country to the richest country in the world, and yet felt that I had eaten better and lived better before the war than Americans did.  

When I started my family the whole neighborhood  taught me how to shop, helped me to name the foods I wanted to buy and  how to cook them.  I was shocked when I saw a man shopping and carrying a baby.  My father didn’t even know where the kitchen was, and never took care of little children. 

It took years to get used to it that in America the kitchen is the center of the home while in Poland the kitchen was behind two swinging doors and no one went there except on Sunday when the maid was at church and left us stuffed cabbage in the warming oven.  Mother usually supervised everything and taught the country girls who stayed with our family for many years to cook meals the way we liked it.  They really were part of our family and were grateful to have food and be well-treated, unlike their harsh conditions in the country. 

We always went on vacation with our parents to Sopot on the Baltic Sea, near to Gdansk that was alternately German, Polish, and a free port through history, and now Polish again.  That is why I love Cape Cod, where I have come over the past 69 years because of that same kind of ocean air. 

Back to the food... All the vegetables were fresh and cooked that same day.  Nothing frozen or canned. Imagine when I came to the States and everything was frozen or canned, and I saw for the first time someone bite into a raw cauliflower.  Salad? For rabbits.  Cucumber in cream sauce was as close as we came to a salad.  I had to learn how to cook.  When I was first married I looked for a bell under the table.  My husband said, “Who are you going to ring for?”  I had to make adjustments every day as a young mother of little children. They taught me more than I taught them about how to function as a mother in this country. 

Soups have to be hearty and hot!  Remember it was a cold climate in Poland, so that is the kind of soup I had, never a cold soup.  I never drank Coca Cola or sodas.  Yogurt was always being made from starter, sitting on the window sill.  Ice cream was made by hand in a churn. All the compotes and jams were made at home out of fresh, ripe fruit. In Poland we had a milk bar; in America there was no buttermilk, no yogurt. A few years later in the 1950's, Dannon began introducing yogurt.  Slowly other European type foods started to be available in America. Now there is increasing immigration from Hispanic,  Asian, and other countries.  So you can see in the grocery stores more ethnic foods are available. 

It is very difficult to introduce new foods to  young children. They are very conservative with food.  Get them used to a variety of foods when they are young.  In our home I said, “You don’t have to eat it, but you have to take one taste. Give it a try.”  My daughter’s friends thought we had weird foods, like mushrooms, onions and sour cream on pastry shells, and told her years later that our home was very exotic!

We used a fork and knife in the European way, not the fork switched every two seconds from left to right hand. Also, we used a fork and knife even when eating a pear or other fruit.. more civilized it seems to me than grabbing everything with hands. 

Maybe a chicken leg, all right.

Most cakes in America are fluffy and empty tasting.  I love fruit tarts or home made pies with French pastry dough, Viennese cakes which are thin and intense with fruit jam and dark chocolate, Polish babkas, delicious to enjoy one or two bites.  You should only eat something “worth sinning for.”  That is what my clever Aunt Ruth told me, and I abide by that!  Once there was a really first rate pastry shop in Provincetown on Cape Cod, and I praised the pastries by saying, "These are worth sinning for."  Next thing I knew, they used that in their newspaper ads all summer.  The next year no more such pastries, only doughnuts and muffins, the usual fat, sugary desserts.  I asked why he had changed, and the owner replied, “No one appreciated the high quality and this is cheaper to make." 

Now after many years there is one French Bistro in South Wellfleet, and people line up each morning to enjoy the croissants, brioches, fruit tarts and good coffee.  That it is truly worth it!

I have always a warm soup, a good peasant bread - brown, never white, compote from fruits, meat or fish just grilled, simply done with no garlic or spices, and I eat with great relish around noon and then take a nap.  

Never eat in a hurry. Savor every mouthful.  When you are in a hurry, rather don’t eat, and wait till you have time.  That is why many people overeat. They are frustrated.  Food should not be a pacifier, it should be a pleasure.  The most obese people in the world are Americans.  We also ruined Hawaii with that junk food that is fattening and addictive.  In Sedona where I live in the winter, the whole town is very aware of produce being grown organically, and locally if possible.  My fervent wish is that more people will wake up and demand excellent food. 

Now, after ninety years of age, the whole chapter about food changes, because who is boss is not what I like but my colon.  It dictates, if you don’t eat right, you will suffer. You have to figure out what is acceptable and what will get you into instant trouble with your colon.  Nuts, garlic, onion, spicy foods... all give my aging colon a really tough time.

A funny story how I finally understood who is boss!

 ...The Colon of course!

Trying to reach the ladies room at Publics in Palm Beach, I had to give up and throw away my soiled clothes.

I waited for someone to come and buy for me a mumu from the front of the store so I could emerge clothed and get back to my car.

My diet started to emerge... back to baby food... plain food that does not irritate the colon!  You have to be your own nutritionist to survive better.  I love delicious foods so I try to simplify them, everything not spicy and easy to digest.. and I have so far mostly  good luck.  Very little raw food, and if you must have lettuce, then romaine, not the fancy kind with all the stems.  Once in a while you can sin with nuts and onion, etc. and hope that it will be ok, but usually try steamed vegetables mushed.  We are only happy when our stomach is happy..and the feet don’t pinch... that is another chapter (See "Happy Feet").

Then we are a delight.

To summarize: Always eat little but the best, freshest foods. A small piece of aged cheese with good taste, but not that colored wax, which is how American cheese in slices strikes me.  
Very important:  Don’t rush!  Enjoy everything in small portions, but beautifully prepared and served.  If you are alone, invite someone to share the meal so it is more social and friendly. Use your “good china” and real glasses, unless it is a party or picnic-style, then paper plates are fine -- less work and just fun conversation with friends.

Food  - it should be a joy, but not a momentary fix to appease frustration or boredom.

Bon appetit!