Food and Relationships
South Africa has one of the best personalities in its television screens who continue to bring our favourite celebrities using food as a catalyst in ensuring that we get the best of each guest that visits his kitchen. Dinner at Somizi’s is one of my favourite television shows not because of the celebrities that are featured but the way he makes cooking look so easy and enjoyable with clear ingredients that are easy to find. What I love about his cooking show is the versatility and sense of art.
The kitchen where he makes his magical dishes is arranged in such a way that provokes appetite while looking forward to tasting his cooking. In his cooking episodes, its clear how important food is in building relationships and getting to know each other better. The best part is how he arrange the ingredients in a presentable eye-catching manner and allowing his guests to participate in the cooking. His recipes are easily adaptable and affordable.
My favourite dish is his delicious lamb casserole and how he mixes the entire ingredients such as garlic, coriander, green pepper before marinating the lamb chops with olive oil and seasoning it with Lamb Barbacoa spice. This lamb casserole dish is put in a ceramic pot and heat it in an oven for over 40 minutes and is served with Polenta which we know as pap here in South Africa. The dish has so much life in it from the delicious inviting smell to taste and presentation. I have experienced the void which comes with the absence of food or the reluctance when food is not well prepared. The sense of joy that comes with well prepared healthy meal is priceless. When we gather around the table enjoying a well-prepared meal there is always a sense of happiness and we laugh endlessly. Food is as important as breathing and we must feel the sense of love and care whenever we are enjoying a meal. The best restaurants have the best Chefs, and you can easily see the joy of its customers oozing out when enjoying the meals.
Presentation in food is important because it goes with character of the person preparing the meal. You can easily see a person’s character in the way they present or prepare meals. This may sound a bit overboard but in food we see a person who prepared it. In most cultures food is about filling the stomach so you can carry on with the day and this is when the food culture and purpose is lost. This also goes with the kind of food one orders in a restaurant and how they insist or particular in their food choices. What I have took along with me over the years is how fulfilling a well-balanced meal can be when all the necessary ingredients are part of the pot. You feel a sense of warmth that comes naturally, and it can’t be faked. Culinary schools teaches the art of cooking but love and care when preparing food comes naturally.
Vegetables are well known for bringing colour and attraction to food when they are also the healthiest part of the meal. We tend to boil most of the meals we cook because of our limited information about food and at times we burn vitamins and end up with unnourished empty meals. The more we learn about the art of cooking is the sign of enjoying cooking and working hard to create palatable meals.
In the beginning I have mentioned how important food is in building relationships and getting to know each putting in reference Dinner at Somizi’s as a practical example. Food is about sharing, care and love that’s why every meal should be prepared with the utmost delicacy. Without food our bodies would be lifeless but even so we must always be vigilant and choose the most fulfilling meals. Food is our everyday joy and delight an irreplaceable source of life. We have based our cultures in the way we prepare food, and it becomes our identity which makes us unique. We gather as friends, family and strangers over a well-prepared meal and share our experiences.
Meat is known for its unhealthy reactions, but we all know the truth lies in the way we prepare it. It’s important that we learn more about food preparation if we intend to enjoy our meals with positive end results rather than poisoning ourselves because of ignorance or lazyness to learn more about food.
Ends/ 750 words
