Jarad Dewing wants to know how you Eat Drink & Be Manly
There are a thousand things we do every day that barely merit mention. Breathing, walking, blinking, sleeping… but of all our human necessities, few actions (with the exception of sex) have been glorified as much as eating and drinking. Food culture is human culture. From our first roots to our molecular gastronomic experiments, our concoctions in earthen pots to our Michelin stars, humanity has relentlessly pursued the fine art of getting fed and quenching thirst.
With the advent of global communication, we have a cornucopia of celebrity chefs, gourmands and gluttons, bloated and starving children, ancient traditions, Bacchus and Bourdain, the Betty Crocker cookbook and bushmen cracking ostrich eggs into open embers. So, if we’re going to talk about what it means to be Good Men in the 21st century, we need to discuss one of the fundamental vertebrae of society: we are what we eat and drink.
I’ve been in the food and beverage industry for over five years, and I’ve been the chef of a rural tavern for the last two of them. I’ve cooked in high-volume commercial kitchens in Boston, French fine dining in New Orleans, and gastropub fare in frigid Upstate New York. Wherever I’ve been and whatever I’ve done, my only goal was to hear the three words every cook wants to hear, “That was delicious.”
My goal now, as Editor of Eat Drink & Be Manly here at The Good Men Project, is to make our lives a little more delicious. If we are what we ingest, than we can create our own joy and create joy for others. We can satisfy cravings. We can meet needs. We can raise our cups at the human festival and bring everyone to the table.
In this section I’ll be interviewing chefs, reviewing books and recipes, making recommendations, offering tutorials, commenting on food culture as a whole, and discussing the definition of modern masculinity from the viewpoint of what we eat and drink.
Do you work in the industry and have a story to tell? Has a particular dish or drink changed your life? Know a chef with a unique outlook that would contribute to our discussion? Or maybe you’re already at the table and you’re just waiting for your turn to spin a yarn, something with a moral, something steeped in water and wine and love and good living.
I’d love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected] — let’s gather ’round the table and have a grand ol’ time.
Cheers!
photo Boston Public Library/flickr