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Aine -> RE: The Kitchen and Food are Sexy! (3/11/2007 12:01:20 PM)
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Lets try this again.
The kitchen is probably the most integral room in our house. It's definitely -his- domain, but I'm always welcome. He's the chef of the house but always loves when I want to get involved. He wants to go back and finish culinary school and I am all for it. Food Network is probably the most watched channel in this house. The ideas that we get from it, it's something we both enjoy and can engage both of us, it's something that ties us together and allows us to enjoy each other and the time we get together when we aren't working. Having shifting schedules can be rather annoying.
The kitchen is something (aside from the bedroom [:D]) that really brought us together from the start of our relationship. From the beginning, I don't know what came over me, but I would try anything he put in front of me (and had my parents wondering what had happened to their daughter, I was the pickiest eater). My parents immediately saw a change in me that was a complete 360 for the better. The interaction and interest that I showed when we made dinner for my family (which was also his introduction to my older brothers and grandfather and uncle) amazed them. The way we interacted with each other while making dinner was a big topic. The affection that they could see between us and the way he involved me in the process and the amount of "us" that went into preparing and serving this meal to them was wonderful and had my mom -gushing-.
The kitchen is a place that can really bring people together in so many ways. As long as you let it. It's not something that has to be there ALL the time, that's for sure. Especially on a day to day basis depending on the kind of situation a person is in.
In my case...it's me and him. That's it. So more interaction, teaching and learning comes from that room than not. We can be silly, serious, casual, beer-food or wine-food. It's something that we share and use to learn about each other, it's intimate on so many levels, it engages people with each other in ways that other things don't. It opens people up for conversation about a plethora of things, it opens them up for interaction, working together, gives people more time to be together when their schedules might not allow for a lot of time together. (Which ours tend not to)
In my opinion, the kitchen in and of itself is a reflection of a person or people that are in a house. What is in it reflects the people's personalities, their interests, their loves. The things that go into something is only what you make them to be.
There's meaning in everything, if you put meaning into it. It can be something as simple as getting something to drink for someone else, that simple kind of gesture, can show so much to the person you're doing it for. All the way up to preparing and creating an entire meal for someone else, without words, it can show appreciation, respect and love for that person. The effort put into it, is something that is big for me. I'm not nearly as talented as he is when it comes to cooking. I'm not nearly as imaginative, but I try, I take the time to try to learn from him and he loves when I put forth that effort to be involved in something that he loves so much. It's something that moves him when I want to take the time to prepare something for us all by myself.
When it comes to eating...it's not that much different. The trust I put in him to make something that I will like, or that he thinks I will like, and in turn I appreciate his efforts by trying those things that I normally would not go near. The praise and thanks that I give him when he doesn't think it's as perfect as it should be, the faces, sounds and eagerness with which I make my point when I like something that he's made me shows better than words what it is I feel when I eat something he's so lovingly prepared. I take interest in the things he does for me, rather than just eating for the sake of eating. It's a complete activity. It's something that brings us closer on a daily basis.
Eating in, eating out, it's a complete experience that expands things for both of us. Always trying new things, getting different things when we go out, feeding each other from our plates so we both can appreciate it, learning cultural things through different dishes, learning about places we want to go through different foods, things that we want to bring home and try ourselves. It makes us excited in so many ways.
The sensations that coincide with food, are amazing when you take the time to learn about them, involve yourself in them, really learn to enjoy them. Sight, smell, taste, texture, sound, it's so enveloping, the mixing of the senses, being able to separate tastes, being able to pick out this or that in a dish, learning to match drinks/wines with different dishes. It's amazing to be able to do those things, it's something that I feel so good about, and I know makes him proud of me for.
There are aspects of what goes on in the kitchen that can be spilled over into everyday life very easily. Creativity, organization, communication, so many other things that I can't even think of at the moment.
It touches us in ways I never thought possible. The connection we make on an emotional level, we touch each other emotionally, mentally, and yeah, even physically. The sensuality of it is more than just sexual, but hell, that sure is fun too. The act of doing it together or even one for the other starts a connection, a road to a place so nice, so comfortable and so warm there are times where it can't be helped that any kind of physical intimacy occurs. Whether it be a simple "I love you" gesture or something planned as part of a spectacular day/evening alone.
The kitchen and food are universal communicative tools. If you choose to use them as such.
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