a very interesting thread!!! I am amazed by how many people not only do not know how to cook but have no desire to learn!!! These are often the same people who don't care what they eat, and are just as happy with fast food as most of us are with, say, freshly-picked corn on the cob, boiled lightly, buttered and salted, a salad of field greens drizzled with freshly-made dressing, a roast leg of free-range lamb rubbed with white pepper, rosemary and garlic, some nice sourdough bread, and, after a couple of hours, a homemade dark bittersweet chocolate mousse with creme fraiche, and of course the appropriate wines, cognacs and liqueurs accompanying...not gourmet fare but I like my food simple, fresh and humanely-raised...

It is true that eating is an art form just as cooking is; and that these days no one takes time to do it. To use all five senses when eating, to appreciate smells and textures and colors...then again I am as Aphrodisian as they come and love plants and perfumes and candles and fabrics and fruit etc....and am glad I am so, I have known people who think a lightbulb in the ceiling is as ambient as lighting needs to be, and spaghetti with a jar of Ragu poured over it is cooking....

Eating while drivng and talking on the cell phone...any idiot who engages in this triple activity should die a fiery death in traffic.

A book I recommend highly: Native Nutrition by Ron Schmid. A great exploration of how native peoples have eaten through history, and how their diets have changed with imperialism (the introduction of sugar to the Eskimos has been particularly damaging, as has the introduction of junk food to Mexican Indians--who have the highest rate of diabetes of any other ethnic group in the world now)...the author also suggests ways we can emulate the best nutritional practices of some of the world's healthiest peoples, and this is quite surprising stuff; for one thing he thinks meat is actually good for us (but not the hormone-laden, filthy stuff which comes from U.S. factory farms), and that most humans should not be eating grains...

peg