Wait...what's this on my plate?

Simplicity in food. What’s happening to it? I’m all for trying new things but this is getting ridiculous. It’s like everyone is competing to come up with the most outrageous food combinations. And people are flocking en mass to try bacon sundaes and goat cheese flavored cupcakes. What about simple traditional food? What about the foods we grew up with? Slowly they are being phased out, being replaced by ‘new twists on old favorites’. But they are old favorites for a reason. Why change them? I grew up in southern California, specifically Los Angeles so my old favorites are quite broad. Parts of my family are from the south. so I grew up eating soul food. But Los Angeles is such a melting pot I also grew up eating Belizean food, Mexican food, El Salvadorian food and much much more. The exposure to so many different cultures has allowed me to be able to cook a variety of multicultural meals throughout my life and now I’m teaching my children simple traditional recipes from all over the world. I will stop a complete stranger in a grocery store to ask them how they would prepare a certain meat or vegetable that is not common to my culture and guess what? I have never ever met anyone unwilling to educate me on their culture thus helping me make it part of mine. There would be no new twists without the old favorites. The old favorites are the basis for our experimentation. I for one will continue to pay homage to the to the food I grew up with and keep making it better without deviating too much from the original recipe. The quality of food we have available now can take a regular hamburger to new heights without having to change it too much. High quality beef, homemade buns and mayonnaise, farm fresh produce and locally made cheese makes for one of the best burgers out there and it’s still a burger. I’m not against change, not at all. Change is exciting. Change is groundbreaking. Change is how we thrive. But history is just as important. I understand the need for progress and evolution in everything in the world but I truly believe we need to preserve our culinary history. And so I will continue to preserve mine and I encourage you to do the same. Thanks for taking the time to ‘listen’ to my rant….lol. I’ll get off my soapbox now. Stay tuned for more rantings and feel free to add your thoughts. Until next time remember…

Make Life Delicious

Michelle