June | 2014 | ideas that taste good

A salad which might pickpocket expectations

June 29, 2014 by antdina

She comes in the room without an invitation. Her face warming, bright and punctuated with sparkling green eyes. Decked in a flower dress and curly auburn hair. Her gaze changes the party. Guests shed jackets and formalities. Lips no longer hold back smiles. The icy wind leaves. And the promise of clinking glasses signal the start to a season of laughter. Her name is Summer. She does not wait for the longest day of the year. She joins when she damn […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: cucumber, mint, nectarine, salad

We elephant when we eat

June 22, 2014 by antdina

The world loves team sports. Most of which involve a ball. A ball which passes between players in the pursuit of a goal. Through the hoop, into the end zone, or in the box. We count points. We hold our breath. We cheer for victory or groan in defeat. Skilled players see the ball with their hands. They pass effortlessly among their team. It’s a conversation between cohorts. Message in. Message out. When play is good we witness the flow of energy. […]

Categories: Communication • Tags: elephant, Lacrosse, low mein, mouthfeel, noodles, pappardelle, pasta, pici, spaghetti

Dining from the garden of an artist

June 16, 2014 by antdina

Can’t see the forest for the trees. Consonance and dissonance. “Let there be spaces in your togetherness….” (Khalil Gibran, The Prophet). An expression. The mechanics of music. And recommendation by a poet. These all signal the duality which forms the human experience. They speak to perspective. From the ground, people of the sky lack context. From the heavens people of the earth lack context. Both are true. Hieronymus Bosch painted with a symbolic hand. The Garden of Earthly Delights show fantastical […]

Categories: Storytelling • Tags: Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch, Michael Bras, painting, Qui, salad, vegetables, Willem deKooning

A taste for ambiguity

June 8, 2014 by antdina

The human mind favors twists. It admires obscurity. It delights in the denaturing of categories. It is the gasoline which ignites the imagination. Artists know how to sing this song. They bust classifications as fervently as the mainstream endures to preserve them. Doubt this fact? Consider Rockabilly. Ask Lyle Lovett for his rationale of both a brass section and a steel guitar. Talk to Bo Jackson. Will he be remembered for the 1987 record breaking rushing or the 1989 MVP in the Allstars? Is he a football […]

Categories: Food Finds, The Taste Lab • Tags: ambiguity, cajeta, Cheddar cheese ice cream, David Bowie, Elvis, ice cream sandwich, Mario Batali, olive oil ice cream, peanut butter, Pizza, Qui, Thai food, William Shakespeare

Sometimes being scrappy is better than being prepared

June 1, 2014 by antdina

Heat dulls the mind. As fast as it activates growth in plants and insects, it slows the pulse of man and beast. As the barometer rises, blood drains from creativity. This can be a problem as hunger mounts his horse through the valley of our beings. Because what should be a simple question, “what’s for dinner,” comes back with no answer. Suddenly that delicious recipe loses it’s charm. The menu from down the street pales. And spark of culinary inspiration is […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: Cypress Grove, goat cheese, parmesan, pecorino, roast, Summer, zucchini

ideas that taste good

storytelling through food

Monthly Archives: June 2014