Is Food the Universal Language?

Since turning 40, I’ve been pondering what I really enjoy in life in the hopes of finding something I really want to do. So I made a top 10:

· Family

· Teaching

· Reading

· Gaming

· Technology

· Socializing

· History

· Wine tasting

· Cooking

· Travelling

Then I asked the question: how can I combine what I enjoy doing into a career? While I don’t have an answer to that yet, I did discover a common thread among all of these items: food. Food can be incorporated into everything I have listed and many more things. Here’s how I connect them:

Family

Fairly obvious here. With a preschooler at home, eating can be a challenge and take awhile, but it’s a big part of the day. When I visit my family, my dad’s famous grilled hamburgers bring the family together along with my mom’s adventurous Mexican recipes. On my wife’s side, Filipino and Chinese food dominates family gatherings.

Teaching

As a teacher, one of my primary goals is teaching read comprehension to my students. It’s not enough the students can orally read aloud; they need to understand what they’ve read. There are two reading comprehension strategies that directly relate to food: sequencing and steps in a process. As we know recipes are the perfect example for both. Teaching students how to create a step-by-step recipe and how to sequence the steps promotes comprehension and writing.

Reading

I’m an avid reader and I always have a paperback handy when I am about to go to sleep. But our house has dozens of cookbooks: ones we’ve bought and ones we’ve created from our family history. Our favorites are the slow cooker recipes and the ones that have wine pairings.

Gaming

I’ll freely admit that I love games: video games, board games, card games, and more. When I have friends over for board game sessions, wings and beer keep us going through the night. There are even food-based video games: most of us old timers remember the arcade game Burger Time. On the Nintendo DS, Cooking Mama uses the system’s stylus and touch screen to make ingredients and cook the food. Even on the iPhone, games like Sky Burger are popular.

Technology

The acceptance of the Internet as a valid medium was only the beginning. We’ve been able to search for recipes for years, but there is so much more. YouTube video demonstrations of cooking and friends sharing food experiences on Facebook and Twitter are everywhere. I’ve even thought of creating a collaborative wiki site for my family to contribute favorite recipes. With mobile technology moving beyond the Internet to location-based applications, programs like GroceryIQ let you create shopping lists of your favorite store and will automatically categorize items by the aisle. Personally, I’ve become a fan of Gowalla, which uses the GPS location on my phone to show me nearby restaurants, food stores, and coffee shops. It even rewards you with passport stamps, pins, and food items for checking in at certain locations. I’m working on the “Visit 10 different coffeeshops” achievement pin. I wonder how long it will be before you are driving near Target and you get a message on your phone with a coupon for 10% off a 12-pack of soda. It’s coming…

Socializing

I’m a very outgoing person who loves talking to most anyone. Talk to anyone long enough, and food will probably come up. No matter what ethnic or political background, food can bridge the gap in conversation.

History

I’ve always asked the question: How did people preserve food before electricity and refrigeration? The answer is salt of course since it absorbs the moisture to prevent spoilage. I tend to read books that are during a pseudo-medieval periods and I pay special attention to what they eat. Mutton and fish over open flames seem to dominate. There are entire volumes devoted to the history and advancement of food.

Wine tasting and Cooking

My wife is going to a wine tasting at a friend’s house and my first question is: what type of food are they serving? Paring food and wine is one of my favorite hobbies. I’ve cooked entire meals based only on a certain type of wine. Cooking and wine tasting appeal to both my geek side (researching and gathering ingredients while following directions) and my creative side (experimenting with different ingredients and food presentation when serving).

Travelling

I believe travelling is the best example of food as a universal language. We have travelled to many cities and countries and I go out of my way to try regional specialties and foods I cannot get at home. I’ve had haggis in Ireland, wine in Germany, pizza in Italy, ale in England, pork in Spain, and horse in Iceland. No matter what the language or country, the food they served spoke of the culture and history in a very profound way.

So is food the universal language? Who knows? But food is pervasive and brings people together like nothing else can. I have enjoyed food in countless ways (as my potbelly will show) and I’m sure I will find many more in the years to come. Maybe along the way I'll figure out how to incorporate it into my job too