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"Cooking, in effect, took part of the work of chewing and digestion and performed it for us outside of the body, using outside sources of energy. Also, since cooking detoxifies many potential sources of food, the new technology cracked open a treasure trove of calories unavailable to other animals. Freed from the necessity of spending our days gathering large quantities of raw food and then chewing (and chewing) it, humans could now devote their time, and their metabolic resources, to other purposes, like creating a culture."

Michael Pollan

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Monday
Nov222010

John Lanchester on perfect pairs

DateMonday, November 22, 2010 at 9:16PM

"[L]amb and apricots are one of those combinations which exist together in a relation that is not just complementary but that seems to partake in a higher order of inevitability - a taste which exists in the mind of God. These combinations have the quality of a logical discovery: bacon and eggs, rice and soy sauce, Sauternes and foie gras, white truffles and pasta, steak-frites, strawberries and cream, lamb and garlic, Armagnac and prunes, port and Stilton, fish soup and rouille, chicken and mushrooms; to the committed explorer of the senses, the first experience of any of them will have an impact comparable with an astronomer's discovery of a new planet."

Lanchester, J. (1996) The Debt to Pleasure. London: Pan Macmillan.

AuthorVix | Comment1 Comment |
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Reader Comments (1)

I'd like to add pears and parmesan to the list

January 13, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterMa

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