Food for Thought.

Food has been an integral part of my entire life. And honestly I spend most of my hours thinking about what im gonna cook for dinner or what I'll have for lunch.

People always ask me: why do you love food so much.

I actually had to think about it for a while, and eventually I wrote my college essay on being a foodie.

I couldn't find the final copy version, so please excuse my grammatical errors

Hope y'all enjoy.

Life of a 17 year old Foodie

The gourmet grocery store, to me, is quite possibly the equivalent that Disneyland is to a five year old. So what makes this emporium of foods so exciting to me? Simply put, I am a foodie.

I first heard the term “foodie” from a family friend in Napa Valley my freshman year. Grocery shopping with this man was a delight. He would compare different cheeses in the market, observing the color, sniffing it, and joyfully sampling creamy rich cheeses while gazing at it reverently. In the meat section of the market, he’d paw through the beef until he found the most perfectly marbled steak of the bunch. (“Not too lean, you need a little fat to give it flavor,” he’d say.) He would hold the package as if cradling a newborn baby and declare it “gorgeous.” After spending a day with him, I became so engrossed in the food culture that food was all I could think about during my leisure time. After several months, friends and family recognized me as the “foodie” in the family.

One experience, however, changed my perspective and my views on food.

I traveled to rural Japan in during the summer break of my sophomore year to visit my grandparents. In Japan, summer is harvesting season for many fruits and vegetables in Japan, such as bamboo shoots, onions, lettuce, and peas. One morning my grandmother asked me to help her dig some vegetables out of the ground, consisting mostly of eggplant and potatoes. Digging up these vegetables was a long and arduous task, as the heat and humidity made the task even harder. That afternoon, my grandmother used the vegetables we dug up and prepared a dish of stewed eggplant and steamed potatoes for lunch. I remember the subtle sweetness of the eggplant and the silky smoothness of the potatoes tasting so good that I asked for seconds and thirds. My grandmother then said, “I planted these crops with my heart and soul, and I hope you enjoyed the food.”

This is the beauty of being a foodie.

To be a foodie, food should evoke memories. My experience with my grandmother taught me that being a foodie doesn’t have so much to do with one’s ability to cook or one’s penchant for fancy gourmet food, but rather your openness to all food experiences and your willingness to partake in the great banquet of life by surrounding yourself with people and sharing food you love. It’s about balance, too. A foodie enjoys a once-a-year Big Mac or the occasional jelly donut just as much as the foodie enjoys the osso bucco, foie gras, or tuna tartare the foodie eats at a trendy eatery. And finally, the foodie will always love the comfort food he grew up on (like hot chicken soup) because it evokes beautiful memories of cold winter days spent underneath bed sheets listening to Grandpa’s jazz music while looking at the beautifully decorated Christmas tree.