When you leave your parents’ home you officially become an adult. Your newfound freedom allows you to make your own decisions without anyone telling you what to do. How exhilarating! You sleep when you’re tired. You eat when you’re hungry and drink when you’re thirsty. But personal freedom extends way beyond one’s basic needs. This freedom also allows you to try things you’ve always wanted to try, like having a Coke for breakfast. How about lunch and dinner? Three to four helpings of your favorite dish, why not? Speaking from a male perspective, there is something really exciting about eating large quantities!
Moving past sheer volume, what choices do we make every day when another meal rolls around? Do we order the same dishes every time we visit a particular restaurant? Or the same sandwich from the same deli week after week? In a lot of ways, food runs parallel to life, reflecting our passions, creativity, curiosity, and maturity. Last year I became a big fan of spicy Korean food. I’ve also found excitement in experimenting with the backyard grill. And I’m not alone. Preoccupation with all things food-related is evidenced by the continuing proliferation of cookbooks and cooking shows.
The freedom to eat when and what we want can be exciting, but it can also become a trap. Food can shift from being something anticipated and enjoyed to something merely consumed. This type of consumption may cause us lose sight of what we loved about food in the first place. So try to make food an adventure in new flavors and discoveries rather then an exercise in monotony. In a lot of ways, freedom is about choice, about limiting yourself so you can enjoy more fully the finer things in your life.
As for books, we’ve published many with food themes, and I can assure you they all celebrate its wonders and diversity. Relish them all by visiting our advanced search, selecting “food” in the subject drop-down menu, and clicking “filter”.
Jason Low
Publisher
