Photo credit: Skley / Foter.com / CC BY-NDPhoto credit: Skley / Foter.com / CC BY-ND
I love food. I even love words used to describe food: savoury, sweet (that’s my downfall!), succulent, flaky, crispy, crunchy, redolent -- and don’t get me started on the French words. that have crept into our vocabulary along with their delicious cooking. And who knew Bibimbap would taste so delicious and be so healthy? When my significant other says, “do you remember that museum in Poët-Laval?” Blank. stare from yours truly. “You know, the place near that restaurant where we had that great pheasant.” The whole trip suddenly comes into focus. There is something about fine food that stimulates my brain cells, improves memory and makes me a much easier person to live with.
For years I commuted between Vancouver and Toronto for work, and then more years commuting from Toronto to Kingston. Having 3500 km between you and your fridge helps to control the waist line. Even 350 km works pretty well. But then I moved to Oakville and spent ten years working thirty feet from my refrigerator. That’s when I started going to a gym!
Wonderful food convinces me that there surely is a God. After all, we could have been created with the same urge to eat what was good for us as we have to breathe -- it didn`t need to be so wonderful to lick sticky fingers. Hence The Divine Palate seems a fitting title for this occasional column.
Sometimes, you discover one food that you can eat every day quite happily. For me, that is Soup’s On Hot and Sour Soup. It’s a perfect balance of flavours: just enough heat and sour to tweak the taste buds, lots of interesting mushrooms along with the crunch of julienned bamboo shoots and carrots.
The protein comes from firm tofu. I must admit, I add silken tofu because it’s my favourite and to boost the protein to make a complete meal.
It’s vegetarian, low-fat, but not gluten-free, since there is a small amount of soy sauce in it. Oh so comforting when one is suffering from a head cold. Available from some grocery stores in litre sized mason jars.
