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Artistry in everything - even co ee and other hot drinks
out, furnish the table with a cover, play some background music, light a candle, pour some wine and maybe even an assortment
of di erent drinks to complement di erent types of food. And so, we’ve created another layer of alchemy to our environment.
In Arabic, we call it ‘mezhag’ or zest for life, infusing our creative touch on everyday actions. e point is, we have the choice to do it or not. Humans are alchemists, and alchemy is magic, making us kitchen magicians.
What does the ip side look like?
It can be only about responding to hunger with a quick answer, like fast food. As humans, we feel our stomachs growling and
our brain immediately says, feed to survive. Back in the caveman times or the 19th century for that matter, there was a lot more pre-meditation to satisfying that ‘need.’ It would come in the form of expending energy to go hunt down a meaty animal, pick some berries and nuts or cultivate a garden to yield fresh produce. ere were no quickie corner stores where you could grab a hot dog and a soda. Kind of obvious, but think about it for a second. What if you lived in a food desert, or hours from the nearest store, how would mealtime look?
As omnivores with opposable thumbs, the choice is really ours. Mealtime can involve relying on processed convenience foods full of empty calories and empty promises with words we can’t pronounce. Or, it can be a beautiful, sumptuous gift from the earth full of real color, real value and real intention. How we source it, prepare it, savor it, share it and make memories with
it is also ours for the taking. It can be a chore or a haven, an inconvenience or something we anticipate with great excitement. Now, that’s the real dish.
www.edibleorangecounty.com
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