Tonight we attended a Universite Populaire series about nutrition. The speaker runs a center for green, holistic eating in Auverne, in the south of France. She discussed the changing role of food in the world, and the potential loss of culinary culture in France. Culinary culture is integral to the French identity. Meals are shared time when ideas are exchanged and food is eaten. Eating quickly or alone, which are becoming more and more common, abandons the former. The table "served" as her metaphor. Without a table, she argued, there is no exchange, there is no intellectual, cultural, spiritual nourishment, and thus the "physical" nourishment of merely ingesting food is, too, incomplete. She offered the case of the library: Imagine a library in the US. There are signs everywhere that say or symbolize "no eating or drinking". In France, she posited, this would be superfluous, for a French person would never think of eating alone. It's true, isn't it? I've noted before how much I admire (what I believe to be) the French way of cooking: three larger meals a day, no snacking, emphasis on eating as a family or group of friends, and the balance of all food groups, plus wine! She ended with the difference between saveur (taste) versus savoir (knowledge): in France, and throughout the world, we must strive for a "petite gout" (a little bit) of both.
In other news, one of my classes presented me with a delightful surprise today! They sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "O, Christmas Tree" by themselves! Their teacher had them practice over break. A very merry day, indeed!
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