Have you ever tried cooking without salt. Sure its doable if the doctor orders it, but the food goes nowhere except necessary consumption. Well I have come to realize that people are like spices. There are some people that do nothing for us and there are others that can take us to places beyond our imagination. Some people are soothing to us like a warm cup of tea during a cold winter night, others can overwhelm us with their strong presence, ....and others just leave a bad taste in our mouths, our lives.
So the question here is what do we want. Do we want balance in our food, in our lives? Does balance create harmony? Should we never experience the heat of a chilli pepper, or the excitement of a love that is clearly not "good for us". It will throw us off-balance but should we really care?
Or is balance an acceptance of low key - don't stir the waters people, food, or lifestyle for that matter. Or does it all depend on the day, the month, or our mood. Some spices or people suit us at different times in our lives. It's strange the older I get the more enticed I am by interesting characters that have managed to keep their uniqueness amongst all the pressure of the melting pot of shallow values that surround us.
Should we start cutting down on salt, sugar and spice because the years are rolling along and by doing this add the unnecessary stress that comes with controlling your diet. Or should we relax savour our food, our loves, our life our bodies and maybe this view of life will help our bodies and minds stay balanced.
Cooks for years have known that the secret to good cooking is a dash of sugar in your food and a dash of salt in your desserts. That extra something that takes your food from just good to simply irresistable.
suggestions:
add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to your tomatoe sauce ( classic)
try adding a dash of cayenne pepper to your hot chocolate ( old mexican recipee)
have you ever cooked meat with fruit ( sweet and sour classic)
add a dash of salt when baking a cake (noone can figure out why it's so special)
Use your sense of smell when you cook, smell a spice and just try to imagine how it can turn your food into ecstacy.
Balance comes sometimes from unusual combinations, from opposites (they attract they say) and great things come when you are not afraid of making mistakes, when you are not afraid to experiment.
.....and finally harmony comes from living life to the fullest.
