Over the course of the past couple years (particularly the past few months), I have become a bit of a food snob. No, I don't eat much in the way of exotic foods. Caviar and foie gras hold little appeal for me. My snobbery takes a different form; I can't abide mediocre food.Why dump canned, boxed or frozen food into a pot and call it supper when only a little more work would produce an infinitely more delicious meal? Though I once hearkened to the siren song of time-saving convenience foods, the experience of scrumptious, yet uncomplicated dishes has convinced me that a little more effort is worth the abundance of flavor gained.
The dish that finally convinced me was macaroni-and-cheese. One night, I decided that Kraft dinner just wasn't cutting it anymore and purchased the ingredients to make some mac 'n' cheese from scratch. As the pasta cooked, I made the sauce, flavored with three cheeses, nutmeg and mustard. By the time the pasta was done, the sauce was also ready to go. In the same amount of time it would have taken to prepare a boxed mix (in which the pasta is inevitably overcooked and the sauce made from neon orange powder), I had a delectable, creamy, tangy, utterly satisfying meal. To make it even more satisfying, sometimes I add a little ham or some veggies or both! Of course, not all from scratch food takes the same amount of time as the boxed version, but the difference in satisfaction level between the two is light years apart, though. At least, for me.
So, anyway, I just don't get the point of food that's merely good enough. If we have to engage in a particular activity multiple times each day for our survival, isn't it worth our while to make said activity as enjoyable as possible instead of just getting it done?
Stop feeding yourself the slop the TV tells you is delicious. Buy ingredients instead of prepared foods. Make a fresh version of a boxed meal and marvel at the difference. Don't waste your time or calories on good enough. Life is too short for mediocre food. Join me in my food snobbery that demands robust flavor, wonderful texture and complete satisfaction.
2 comments:
Is that an elephant behind I see as a background?
I'd love to try your mac-n-cheese recipe. Is that what is pictured? That seems to have avocado and pineapple. I MUST have that recipe, too, as it looks AMAZING. :)
It is an elephant! They are definitely my favorite animal, so when I was choosing my background, I couldn't resist.
My mac 'n' cheese recipe is pretty basic. I will write it up it in a couple days as a follow-up to this post. The dish pictured is actually a potato salad I made with homemade mayo, if you can believe it. That's what gives the potatoes that yellow color. The green is from cucumber and fresh dill. It's incredible! I didn't write that recipe, but I'll post it as a temptation for you to get my favorite cookbook in the world, The Commonsense Kitchen, by Tom Hudgens.
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