I live in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
which is constantly rated one of the top places to live in the world. I work in a corporate position and have been
doing so since the late 90’s. I’m not a
food or wine connoisseur and certainly have no formal culinary training, but I
love discovering, eating, cooking, and sharing my experience on good food and
wine.
I’ve always been fascinated by the evolution of food and
food culture to where it is today. Remember in the 80’s movie ‘The Breakfast
Club’ when Claire (played by Molly Ringwald) takes out her lunch and John
(played by Judd Nelson) asks what she has for lunch? When she says sushi to all
the blank faces and she has to explain it as rice, raw fish, and seaweed, you
see the look of disbelief on everyone’s face.
Imagine if that scene occurred today? Sushi is so common today that
almost everyone eats it or at least knows what it is.
Or before the explosion of the Food Network on television well over a decade ago, the word celebrity was normally reserved for actors and
musicians. Now, we see hundreds of chefs who have reached celebrity status and
are now referred to as celebrity chefs. That didn’t exist when I was growing
up. I recall watching only one cooking show in Canada on Canadian Broadcast Public Television Network and that
was a called ‘Wok with Yan.’ I remember
how I thought the chef, Stephen Yan, was so cool making all these delicious
meals in his wok because this show was so unique and rare back then. BTW, Anthony Bourdain is my idol right now.
I also remember when I was in grade school, the snacks that
all the kids would bring in their lunches were things like Twinkies, Ding Dongs
and Wagon Wheels. I’m pretty sure that with the all the emphasis there is on
healthy eating, these snacks aren’t as common.
Nowadays, the term gluten free or
dairy free seem to be everywhere, or having bacon covered donuts, or bacon infused
vodka, or bacon ice cream seem to be the way to go right now.
I could go on and on about how food culture has evolved and
changed over the past years, but do you know one thing that will stay constant?
It’s eating simple, local, seasonal and slow food. I initially discovered the true
meaning of this when I was in Europe. I
was delighted to discover something as simple as diced fresh tomatoes, olive
oil, and salt on bread could taste so delicious. I just love the food culture
in Europe and how Europeans take such pride in their local and seasonal foods.
I travel often to various countries in Europe with my husband and a lot of our
enjoyment comes from discovering good, local food and wine and sharing it with
others.
So grab a glass of wine (or water with gas or no gas :) and
I hope you enjoy reading about my delicious Europe travels!
I remember that scene from The Breakfast Club! :-)
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