blue artichoke

People have relationships with food that go way beyond the "eat to live" vs. "live to eat" dichotomy. Food plays many roles. It is a social event, as when you meet your friends for dinner; a icebreaker, as a safe activity for a first date; a celebration, as the focus of receptions, parties and other special events; a consolation, as the pint of ice cream after a break-up; a bond, as the one time of day many families spend all together; a comfort after a long, hard, tiring and distressing day. Food is also a reward for good behavior or an extra-long run, an expression of love, an adventure, medicine, or a temptation. Yup, we have a very complex relationship with food.

Beyond all these abstract and emotional ties to food, we have a physical relationship to the food in front of us, evident in how we handle food. I've observed people who don't like different food types to touch and carefully create boundaries between items. I've seen others mix everything together, totally unconcerned with how the flavors meld with each other. Some prefer to pile everything up on a piece of toast for maximum efficiency. I've seen others start at the closest edge of the plate and eat their way to the other side. Some get a second helping, no matter how big or little their first serving. I tend to eat all of one item before moving on to the next, or until I grow tired of that flavor, starting with the item that will suffer the most from exposure (i.e., cold eggs aren't very good, so I always eat them first. Bacon or toast are fine lukewarm, so they're last).

Food aversions are another way we relate to food that goes beyond mere taste. I read an article last night that said that Mario Batali's kid won't eat anything with green flecks in it. Another celebrity chef (I forgot who) had a kid who eats food only in shades of brown. I don't like food wrapped up in tortillas. GC doesn't really like blended soups. I'm sure there's a whole field of food psychology waiting to be discovered.

Getting to Know All About You: What's your food quirk or aversion?