“Twice upon a time there was a boy who died twice
and lived happily ever after but that's another chapter
live from home of the brave with dirty dollars
& beauty parlors & baby bottles & bowling ball Impalas
& street scholars that's majoring in culinary arts
You know how to work bread cheese & dough
from scratch but see the catch is you can get caught
Know what ya sellin' what ya bought so cut that big talk”
Music motivates the soul, or at least it certainly motivates mine. Naturally, my inspirations come through my jams. I may have little to no direct connection to the food of the south, but my theory persists that the food I make is soul food. Whether at home or in a professional kitchen, I’m listening to the music that makes me happy as I work to make your mouths happy… and this is where it begins.
So, maybe my first post has taken a while. Maybe I’m just a procrastinator. Maybe you won’t read this and I’m rambling to myself. Frankly, I had to think about why I do this and what moves me to do it. I mean, I get passionate about food… real passionate. I ‘ve been getting carried away with this love affair for so long that I kinda forgot where it started. Farms, at home, as a kid and traveling were all considered; no doubt though, my love of food was nurtured by my love of music.
Like an iron skillet upside the head, I realized that the genesis of this came at a time when my mind was wrapped around lyrics and beats by artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Tribe Called Quest, El-P, the roots and Outkast to name a few. The latter being whose lyrics I would open with and repeat in my head almost every day in the kitchen. Charged with a rhythm that kept me moving and lyrics that were insightful and in tune with a generation seeking change, these artists provoked, challenged and inspired my young mind.
In those days I worked on a farm in rural Michigan outside Grand Rapids. Hands dirty with soil, I would drive back to the city with my Cadillac’s trunk full of bounty. Preparing food for any number of my transient friends at the time, I discovered a spark. Furthermore, the music was the billows nurturing that spark. Inspirations fueled by passions wrapped in revelations made real by actions. How were farming practices affecting our food supplies? Why was the food at restaurants so shitty? Why don’t more people grow their own food? Are there ways to break down the walls that separate different cultures? Questions led to more questions.
What all this really equates to is an understanding. Food is life. Not just fuel, food is what brings us together. Like other forms of art, food has a place in our history present and future. I enjoy learning about the stories of the land and the people, as well as sharing personal stories. All this I want to communicate and record, for myself and for you, the reader. What inspired me to finally start writing were those exact lyrics at the top of my post. Music feeds the soul bringing you the food for taste and thought.
While, my musical taste has diversified extensively in mostly offbeat ways, those beats and lyrics are invariably what I turn to when I need a little extra push to get through a long day in the kitchen or preparing for an intimate supper. Maybe, this post will be the one that gets my regular contributions off to an awkward start, but I like awkward. Common grounds are what I live for, and I find that food and music are easy ice-breakers. One final thought, eat more radicchio.
Photos courtesy of Paco Link.
