The Art of Simplicity - Food and Our Move Away from Natural Taste

So today's post is not a recipe but rather an idea that has been idly churning in my head for a while and finally came to the surface today when my Uncle visited my house with the last of his garden crops: tomatoes, bok choy, jalapeno peppers, beets.

Normally, I would prepare a sauce, perhaps with some lemon juice, salt olive oil, but my uncle stopped me and instead offered that we slice the tomatoes, steam the bok choy, roast the beets and slice the jalapenos. I scoffed at the perceived tastelessness of the meal I was about to consume but what I had neglected to remember was that these crops had been just plucked from the vine this morning, and as such were as fresh as could be, still covered in a fine layer of soil, still warm from the mid-September sun.

What resulted from this preparation was a meal so tasteful, so decadent in its natural sweetness and richness that I had almost felt as if I had never tasted a tomato or beet before. In truth, I came to recognize the error of my ways, the error of understanding local produce and transforming it into... well... what it is: simple, unadorned, divine. So next time you reach for the condiments and sauces, think again, and remember that as long as your produce is fresh, the naked taste alone, if you really make an effort to mindfully eat it with a note towards natural flavors, will be more sweet and more satisfying than anything additions from a bottle could provide.

Xo