the_mary•1mo agoMost Upvoted

The church basement potluck that rewired how I cook

I grew up thinking food had to be fancy to matter, then my aunt brought shredded chicken on dollar rolls to a funeral lunch in Akron and people fought over the last one. She told me it was about feeding folks, not impressing them, and I've never chased a recipe card the same way since. Anyone else have a moment where plain food beat the gourmet stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_palmer441mo ago

I was just reading about this thing where chefs talk about their "death row meals" and it's always something like their mom's meatloaf or a gas station hot dog they ate once in the middle of nowhere. Never the tasting menu stuff. That funeral potluck thing hits home though. My grandmother's ham and bean soup was basically garbage water compared to what I've had in nice restaurants, but I still dream about it thirty years later. I think it's because the fancy food is about the chef showing off, but the basement food is about someone looking at you and saying, "Here, eat this, I made it for you." That's a whole different kind of flavor.

the_jake1mo ago

@parker_palmer44 nailed it, the care behind plain food never fades.

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