Pleasure to Meat You
What comes to mind when you hear the word “pleasure?” I asked this question of a couple of my co-workers today and they responded with words such as “beach,” (keep in mind that it was 15 degrees outside at the time with wind chill warnings), “palace,” and “vacation.” We also commented on how sometimes there might be a negative connotation associated with this word, possibly relating to thoughts of immorality or excess. Ironically, pleasure from excess doesn’t even make sense. The more we have of something the less likely we are of actually gaining any pleasure from it.
My real goal in the question asked of my coworkers was to understand the relationship between pleasure and food. Pleasure from food is one of the natural pleasures we are born with. So how can we optimize this natural pleasure? Well, it certainly is not from excess food. Perhaps this is why “food” did not come up as one of the words that I or my co-workers associated with “pleasure.” We are all fortunate to not struggle with food security, and maybe even indulge too much. Besides eating in moderation, I believe there are other aspects involved in finding pleasure in food:
Incorporate of all your senses. The most obvious way to find pleasure in food may be to involve more of our senses, other than just taste. We can find more pleasure in food with smell, through the use of aromatics (i.e. garlic, rosemary, etc.). We can also involve sight through the use of brightly colored ingredients. While it might sound strange to some, we can even involve touch by eating with our hands, instead of silverware. For many cultures this is actually not as unusual as it might sound.
Introduce variety. Pleasure from food can also be gained by incorporating variety in our diets. One of the best ways to do this is to eat seasonally. This means focusing on foods that are seasonally available wherever you live. I personally think this is one of the best ways to find pleasure in food, by eating foods that are available during their prime and can be eaten shortly after being harvested.
Understand your food. Understanding what has gone into our food to produce it can also give us pleasure. Knowing the breed or species, where it originated, or how it was grown may develop a finer palate that will help differentiate similar foods with different origins or production methods.
Share your experience with others. My personal favorite method for finding pleasure in food is to share it with others. This could mean sitting around a table to share a meal with friends or family. Or, it might mean purchasing a favorite food item for someone as a gift.
I believe it is this last reason that helped spark the idea of opening up Old Station Craft Meats, which created the ability to share and connect others through great quality meat. At Old Station Craft Meats we don’t necessarily want people to eat more meat, but rather have them eat better meat and to understand and appreciate why it is better.
