Sometimes, when I’m lying in bed and my 24-year-old daughter is clanking around in the kitchen, it takes me back to one of my first memories of food. But it goes deeper than that. Just a sound or a certain smell of cooking brings me back to my mother, who is long gone. There was a lot of banging and clattering while she was in the kitchen cooking and cleaning, and that was the spot where family and friends would eat and laugh and converse on many subjects.
As a child, I pored over the colorful pictures of India in my mother’s Time-Life books. Since then, I have seen many countries with the same fresh eyes, and have come to realize that there is a connection to food in everything we do.
I was barely 17 when I graduated from high school and my father let me go to England to visit my uncle. From there I began wandering the world. With a backpack, I traveled from country to country, heading east on my way to India, exploring, tasting the indigenous foods, and learning about life. Sometimes, when I was alone in a country where they didn’t speak English, I was able to communicate through food.
I was walking through the central marketplace in Morocco when a shopkeeper invited me to come in and have something to drink—at least, that was how I understood it. I tried to walk past, but he spoke louder and I realized this was an offer—a gesture of customary hospitality. I went inside and sat down on a blanket on the floor where a few other Moroccans were sitting in a circle.
They talked loudly in Arabic and began their ritual of offering friendship. Holding a special teapot high in the air, they poured mint tea sweetened with tons of sugar into little teacups. This was an art in itself! They passed around some cookies, and though they were speaking to me in a language I did not understand, I could tell what they were trying to say through hand gestures, eyes, tone of voice, and smiles and pointing.
I learned that Berber Whiskey is not alcohol but simply the name for this green mint tea. I smelled something wonderful when a man came up to our circle holding a beautiful plate with a pie on it. The top was covered with powdered sugar and cinnamon. It was one of the most fabulous dishes I’ve ever had! I had never tasted that complex combination of savory and sweet. It was chicken bastilla, made of chicken with saffron and turmeric and other unfamiliar spices, with fillings made of eggs and almonds and more herbs, all encased in a phyllo dough crust, crunchy and buttery and sweet! Later, I made friends with a woman from Morocco whose mother was an expert in the making of bastilla, and she gave me her recipe.
By the time I got to India, I had tasted dozens of exotic spices and herbs, and India had so many more to offer. They use a limitless array of spices in artful combinations developed over centuries. India was so complex that I sensed one could never learn everything there is to know about it. But certain things I understood instantly. One memorable day in Bombay I came across a woman who invited me into her home. It was a magical moment with a wise woman I had never met and would never see again. Over Indian tea and sweets, she spoke about India and I told her about America.
She introduced me to foods totally outside my realm of experience–gulab jamun, sweet dumplings made of milk and soaked in rose syrup; kheer, rice pudding made with cardamom and full of nuts; and sutarfeni, a sweet, shredded, flaky rice-flour, blended with melted sugar to form a cotton candy, topped with finely chopped pistachios and almonds and sprinkled with powdered cardamom. Of course, no sweet (or day) in India would be complete without its crowning glory, India chai tea—drinking this is a ritual. Sitting with my newfound friend on that memorable day, I learned so much about Indian life. What I remember most vividly is her smile, gracefulness, and gratitude at having me at her table. She introduced me to flavors I had never tasted before—flavors I would come to love and seek wherever I went.
When my driver took me to a restaurant in his rickshaw, I did not understand at first why he could not join me for lunch inside. He told me about the caste system, a political ideology having to do with economic class. Because of his status, he was not allowed to enter the restaurant with me. I was surprised when I heard this. I went in and brought out a fragrant dish to share with him. It was a vegetarian stew made of lentils, coconut, tomato, and all kinds of vegetables and curry. It was more than delicious. Returning home, I was inspired to recreate that special dish, which reminds me of the look on his face when I came back to eat with him in the rickshaw.
A CHANGING PERSPECTIVE OF FOOD
When my twins were born, I experienced food as the most endearing form of nurturing. The big decision was whether to breastfeed or bottle feed them, and if I gave them a bottle, should it be cow’s milk or soy milk?
This was of great concern because at the time there were pros and cons of each. And their father and I took it very seriously because we knew that what we fed them at birth could affect them in their adult life. The sacred act of breastfeeding is now believed to be more than just feeding—it is an emotional bond as important as the nutrients the child receives from the mother. Cow’s milk can cause ear and upper respiratory infections, and it turns out soy is controversial because of its estrogen-like effects.
It was around this time I co-created a business featuring a weight loss product. As part of the package, I wrote a cookbook with healthy recipes. The program taught people how to lose weight and still eat delicious foods. On this note, 65 percent of Americans are considered overweight. Many of them try one diet after another, losing weight and gaining it back. They spend so much time feeling bad about themselves. Their thoughts revolve around food, and when you really think about it, so can their health. Just think about how diabetes is affected by sugar, or how we get the sugar “blues” or sugar “highs.” Some foods act like dopamine, making us happy, and other foods can make us sad. Some people’s happiness revolves around food—they get so much pleasure out of food that it becomes their main event. Other people are obsessed with food in a different way. It is their Achilles heel and can bring them a lifetime of eating disorders and unhappiness, emotional pain and dysfunction.
From the day we are born to the day we die, everything is affected by food. When we reach old age, many of us are placed on special diets, and when we get sick, we may need special drinks to get the nutrients to keep us alive. Even our thoughts and decisions are affected by food. Working on an empty stomach, when we can think of nothing but food, interferes with the quality of our work. It’s better to work when we are satisfied and can fully concentrate on the task at hand. Food even changes our moods. We may be irritable or depressed in a state of hunger, and food can bring a feeling of fulfillment. These moods also affect our decisions and ability to concentrate.
From the highest level to the simplest level, food plays a powerful role. Many of the world’s most critical deals are made over food. In business, many major contracts are signed after engaging a CEO or investor over a meal. Consider food at the highest level–the president of the United States hosting a dinner at the White House for a leader of another country. Over that meal, a bond could be established or an agreement could be broken.
I was once a member of the White House staff and moved to Washington D.C. It was there I realized that some of the important political issues are discussed over food–from meals where senators dine together in the Senate Dining Room to White House state dinners, where the food being served is laboriously prepared with its significance in mind.
It is a telling tale of the state of world affairs when the minority of the population has the majority of the world’s food. You may be wondering who I am to stand on a podium and make such an emphatic statement about food — something we take for granted. What qualifies me to philosophize that a seed in the ground is a powerful force that can influence war and peace, love and money, survival and happiness? Well, I myself never imagined I would go in the direction of food.
I am a former publicist, entrepreneur, product inventor, business and media consultant, and author. My cookbook sold more than a million copies. My second book, which I co-wrote, was a book about public relations and marketing. As a certified health coach, I pay particular attention to nutrition in creating my recipes. I’m also the mother of twins. I am usually a little frazzled, and the process of cooking has become a sensual therapy for me. Using all five senses, I get into a zone of true freedom. I experience being totally present in the moment and feel profoundly peaceful and full of artistry, no matter what is going on around me. This passion has grown into dinner parties, travels, wonderful new friends, and endless research. The more I studied, the more I realized how vital food is to our survival as a species. It has become an epic metaphor for life. Now, when I look back with the knowledge I have gained, I can hardly imagine there was a time when I was not that excited about food.
I discovered the absolute richness and intricacy of the flavors and qualities of food through my beloved daughter. She is a total foodie who adores going to farmers markets and zealously researches all the new restaurants. Today, I am a true foodie in every sense of the word. I am a hopeless food snob and a wannabe food critic. I am a gourmet cook by instinct, not by trade. I will confound your expectations by stating that I am a skinny chef . . . Yes, you can trust a skinny chef! They say life’s twists and turns are beyond your preconceived notions and expectations. And so it is that this is a new path for me and I’d like to share it with you.
For now, I’d like to leave you with this. Food is life, and life is what you make it. The same basic food can be prepared and eaten in a boring way, or it can be turned into something so glorious that you want to savor every moment, every bite. Slow down and savor the flavors—of your food and your life.
Here’s to a delicious life,
Sherry Plum
In honor of the magical tea party moments with two friends who invited me to tea and stories in Morocco and India, my very first recipes are Berber Whiskey and Indian Chai. Then I’ll share with you an incredible recipe from my friend’s mother in Morocco, Traditional Chicken Bastilla of Morocco. It’s elaborate, but it’s worth every step. And there’s a surprise at the end. It’s a super-easy recipe I created with leftover chicken from the chicken bastilla called Surprise Leftover Moroccan Shredded Chicken Salad. An honorable mention goes to the Indian Lentil Vegan Stew. I love them all and hope you do too!
