Thursday, November 29, 2012

On the non-pleasures of good eating

At a certain point that I wish was more rare than it is, eating becomes more cerebral exercise than gustatory enjoyment.  Like a fine wine taster who never smiles, our food fetishization movement has improved the general quality of food depth and breadth in America, but has also produced a rising number of palates that are benumbed by over-tasting.  Exhibit A would be chef Jonathan Benno in this video claiming to have eaten "one of the best meals that I've ever had" (at Neta) while being entirely solemn bordering on funereal.  If the future of food consumption is filled with silent somber contemplation, does this defeat the purpose of breaking bread with anyone but yourself?

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