This is a chapter from my third book called Love letters
Our love affair with food started from the beginning of humankind when Eve could not resist the deliciousness of that rosy apple. It is human nature to love food. It is necessary for our survival. We cannot live without food. When we eat food, our brains release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is associated with pleasure and reward. Food is often associated with culture, traditions and celebration. What is Eid without sawine or Divali without curry or Christmas without pastelle or Carnival without pelau?
Our love and need for food means we have to grow lots of it. My first experience with growing food started in primary school when we learnt to plant red beans in a container with toilet paper. We tended to our beans and watched them grow with amazement. We could have been the future farmers of our country for all we know. I did not become a farmer but in my adult years I have experimented with different crops in my home garden like pumpkin, ochro, tomato, bodi and pimento. From the pimentos I would make a delicious and fresh hot sauce.
I like my belly. I don't like having a belly and some abs would look nice on me though. They say a hungry man is an angry man and no one wants to be that angry man so we show our food some love. I love the convenience of food delivery apps. The wonders of the internet and technology has made it easier to show our food some love. I once had a food blog where I wrote about my escapades with cooking food. My love for food is also local for the usual like doubles, roti and pelau. Who can resist a bake and shark once they have gone to Maracas beach? How about corn soup from the Savannah?
Food is like a friend. For example, the down times when ice cream was there to pick me up like that Hagen Daz brownie macchiato. When money is tight we have to be creative and flexible with what we eat. Crix and cheese and Milo. Sada roti and fry aloo. Corn beef and macaroni. Dumplings and dasheen bush bhagi. They say we should eat to live and not live to eat. This is good advice and calls for some tough love. Everything in moderation and balance is the key. They say we are what we eat. Well I am delicious. I am a snack. Oh yeah, I can be funny too.
Growing up I loved snacks. Corn curls and cheese balls and Bongo and kiss cake were my regulars. My mom tells me that I used to tell her that my brain could not function without the snacks when I was studying for school so she had to run quick quick by the parlour and trust some snacks. Food brings people together. Cesar Chavez has said that, "If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him … The people who give you their food give you their heart." All this talk of food has made me hungry. My stomach growls a serenade to the food I love.
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