Indulging the Senses
I’m in the mood to try different recipes and am craving watching a good food programme at the moment. The last good programme I watched was Stanley Tucci’s series, “Searching for Italy’, about traveling around Italy, tasting the flavours of both land and sea. If you haven’t yet watched it, I do recommend it. It is definitely inspirational and interesting learning about each area’s signature dishes and key ingredients. I’m in the mood to watch something like that again and attempt a few different recipes, rich in flavour and bursting with colour. As spring is here, now is the perfect time for a bit of experimenting.
Italy is a foodie’s dream country I think and the people, with their love of family, food and life make it really appealing to me. I love the Mediterranean countries because of the way they engage their senses and live life to the full. Food, music, wine, love - these are their trademarks. Family and food are a good recipe for happiness - add a bit of wine and perhaps bliss is possible!
In this world we are often encouraged to tone down our emotional responses, to live in our minds and analyse. So many people spend the bulk of their day behind screens, with most of their senses shut off from ‘real’ life. We spend a great deal of time around machines and interact in a very cold and non-physical way. Empathy and inter-connectedness with nature and each other, become dulled down and in some cases, non-existent. I believe this is not our natural state of being and that we need to re-connect with our physical and emotional selves. It is ok to feel fear and joy and hug and kiss and eat a lot! It is ok to feel wild emotions. It is what this thing called life is about.
Right now I’d love to take a drive down the coast and breathe in the salty air; sip a cool Pinot at a casual cafe; knead dough with my hands; drizzle olive oil over a fresh salad of ripened red tomatoes and thick slices of Buffalo mozzarella; breathe in the scent of freshly picked Basil.
Can you picture it?
I‘ve convinced myself - I think booking a holiday to Italy is in order!