The Weight of Sustenance
Why do we feel a phantom hunger even when our tables are full? Perhaps it is because we have forgotten that to eat is to participate in a cycle of surrender. A seed gives up its potential to become a stalk; the grain gives up its form to become…
The Alchemy of Steam
I remember a kitchen in Fez where the air was so thick with cumin and coriander it felt like you could lean against it. An old woman named Fatima was stirring a pot that had been bubbling since dawn. She didn’t look at me when I entered;…
The Ritual of the Afternoon
There is a particular rhythm to the mid-afternoon in Galway, a moment when the wind off the Atlantic forces the city to retreat into the warmth of its own kitchens. I often find myself wandering through the narrow, winding streets of the Latin…