Tulsa Food Talk

Food for Thought – Tulsa, Oklahoma

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  • Brian Schwartz 10:45 am on April 15, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    Genius chef makes Doc’s on Brookside shine 

    Doc’s is now the most exciting place to eat in Tulsa. Genius chef Ian van Anglen helms the kitchen. His new menu adopts the “new Southern” idea and takes it to a higher level. My dinner last night started with an appetizer that Ian created just for me. Perfectly cooked pork belly lounged on a bed of hominy and other vegetables. It was the quintessence of Southern cooking. The pork fat and the hominy joined to provide a complex rich flavor.

    Southern cooking, complex rich flavor and perfectly cooked meat were also the hallmarks of my next course. Rack of lamb ($26). I’ve never had lamb so flavorful and juicy. It came on a bed of crunchy greens and pickled onions, whose savory and sour flavors were the perfect counterpoint to the meat. Part of the meat was coated with a subtle Creole mustard glaze and that just added to the goodness.

    Ian also recommends the duck ($19) and hopes to add many memorable new dishes when the fresh produce starts rolling in from the farms around 2 months from now. So go.

    Doc’s Wine & Food
    3509 S. Peoria Av, Tulsa
    949-3663

    Here is an informative New York Times article on “new Southern” cuisine: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/dining/06indi.html

    My original review of Doc’s, which stressed the “new Southern” theme.

    http://tulsafood.com/brookside/docs-wine-food-new-southern

     

    • Brian S. 3:30 pm on April 29, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      Ian’s found a great number 2 chef. Mr. Lopez worked at some of Miami’s finest restaurants (and yes that’s Miami Florida, at South Beach) before coming to Tulsa.

  • Brian Schwartz 9:39 am on March 27, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    Himalayas: stuff yourself with mediocre Indian food for $11. 

    If you want to stuff yourself with mediocre food for $11, then head for Himalayas Aroma of India Restaurant. It’s where Kolam used to be. Kolam was a Tulsa treasure, offering rare dishes from the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu and from Kerala in south India, dishes you can’t find anywhere else. And Himalayas, which took its place when Kolam closed, has a branch in Norman which has some of these same dishes. So I had high hopes for this place. Unfortunately, those dishes are not on the Tulsa branch’s menu. Perhaps the dishes from the a la carte menu are good. Sadly, the dinner buffet isn’t.

    Oh it looks just fine, lots of variety. And you can make yourself a fine-looking plate.

    But the Chicken Tikka Masala, that pretty red thing at the lower right, is completely tasteless, and so is the Lamb Korma that’s the other meat dish. Vegetarian dishes are somewhat better. The green Palak Paneer has a spinach flavor, the chickpeas (on the left of the photo near the spinach) have a hint of spice, the yellowish shredded cabbage have an interesting spice flavor too. But they’re not worth the trip. The rice, a biryani, is… well, just rice with a bit of oil taste.

    Desserts are pretty good though. The sphere on top of the photo is a Gulabjaman, which is like a pancake with maple syrup, and there was a neat white liquidy pudding. Still, not worth the trip.

    Himalayas Aroma of India
    4844 S. Memorial Dr.
    270-1445
    http://www.himalayasok.com
    Open daily for lunch and dinner

     

  • Brian Schwartz 11:56 am on January 28, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    Tuesday is $9 steak at Warehouse 

    Warehouse is a great place to hang out on Saturday night and I’ve been there more times than I remember. But I never dreamed of eating there until Urban Tulsa tipped me off to Tuesday’s steak special. So I rounded up my friends and went last Tuesday afternoon. For $9 you get a salad (I chose the tasty Blue Cheese dressing) and then you get this.

    A nice little sirloin steak, overly spiced perhaps but good flavor, some toast, and a monster baked potato big enough to be a meal in itself. Not a great meal perhaps, but for $9 certainly a great deal.

     

    • Jon G 3:26 pm on March 11, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      Where is the Warehouse located?

      • Brian S. 3:29 pm on March 11, 2012 Permalink | Reply

        3346 S. Peoria in the heart of Brookside.

  • Brian Schwartz 11:21 am on January 24, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    La Altena Mexican Ice Cream Parlor 

    It’s easy to pass by La Altena. It’s just a nondescript shop at the side of a strip mall at the corner of 21st and Garnett. It looks like it’s closed or even vacant, except for a sign that says “Helados”. It’s pretty drab inside too, but there’s some great Mexican ice cream there. They make it in back. When I stopped by, they had mostly run out but the friendly clerk, fluent in English and of course Spanish, told me the flavors they had left. Mango, bubble gum, strawberry and guava. I got a two-scoop cup for only $1.25, and they were big scoops. Of course I got mango and guava. It was lovely. Full, rich ice cream and not, as I was expecting, shaved watery ice. I won’t pass by there again without stopping for a cup.

    La Altena
    11330 E 21 Street
    706-9647

     

  • Brian Schwartz 10:37 am on January 11, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    Go West Restaurant — still going strong 

    Genius chef Doug Atkinson left long ago but Go West still soldiers on. And they’re doing a great job! Some of the entrees are the same, some have been tweaked a bit, and some are new. All are in the flamboyant cowboy style which made Go West famous. The cowboy-themed decor’s the same too.

    Thanks to owner Johnny Wimpy, the welcome is as warm as ever. Even warmer was the soup, a fiery (and lovely) cream of jalapeno. The bread platter is so good you’re tempted to fill up on that. I got one of the new entrees. Campfire Steak Medallions ($18).

     

     

     

     

    Lovely bits of beef tenders first smoked then grilled covered with a peppery mushroom demi-glace. Lightly fried potatoes were great too, as were the beans. My friends got salads. Here’s one.
     

     

    That’s a Ranch Steak Salad ($13). The dessert tray had fewer offerings than before, but they looked great. But we were too full to try any.

     

    I think the food was better when Doug was at the helm. But there’s still some fine entrees available, and I plan to go back for more.

     

     

    Here’s my review (with lots of photos) of Go West in its glory days early last year:

     

     

  • Brian Schwartz 12:30 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Mole Poblano at El Fogon in Owasso 

    Mole Poblano is a rich, complex Mexican sauce with a rich, complex history. The history goes back almost 400 years (more, if you count the Aztec origins) and the sauce is so complex it takes almost a whole day to prepare. I wrote a long description of Mole Poblano in my review of Tres Amigos in South Tulsa. A reader commented that the spectacular mole at El Fogon is the best in Oklahoma. But El Fogon is almost twenty miles from midtown Tulsa and, because the dish is so hard to make they serve it only once a month (and not on the same day of the month either). So I forgot about that.

     

    Yesterday I decided to visit El Fogon, just to try the other dishes, which I’d heard were outstanding. We drove a long time on darkened roads to what looked like a little shack. But inside there was a cozy and inviting dining room.

     

     

     

    By incredible good luck it was Mole Poblano night!! Of course I ordered it (and it was only $8, with chicken), and out this came.

     

     

     

    Oh it was wonderful, the totally authentic real deal. I can’t say it was better than the Tres Amigos version. But, glistening and packed with flavor,  it was certainly as good, and it was a totally different interpretation of the recipe.  So good that I’m ready for a return visit to try the restaurant’s regular offerings… and when I do, I’ll write a full review. If you ever learn that El Fogon is serving Mole Poblano, pack up your bags and head north to Owasso.

     

    El Fogon

     

    11515 N. Garnett Road (about a mile west of the Route 20/116 Street exit of the Mingo Valley Expressway)

     

    371-6230

     

    Open daily to around 9 PM (except Sunday is lunch only)
     

    • Bob Haywood 1:18 pm on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      We saw you there that night! We love El Fogon. The family are super nice people and all the food is home made!

    • Oklahawg 10:48 pm on March 2, 2012 Permalink | Reply

      Eating at El Fagon is a weekly ritual. The family that runs the restaurant is like our family after years of visiting them for our “family night” meal on the town.

      I thought I had discovered all the “goodies” but I tried something new a few weekends ago that was spectacular: torta ahogadas. I think I have that correct. Its a smallish (think 6-inch Subway sandwich, and then not as bulky) torta compared to some of the monsters you can get around Tulsa at independent Mexican restaurants. It was packed with my meat of choice, the spicy pork (al pastor at many restaurants). It is soaked in a tasty and not-too-spicy sauce that reminded me of a wet burrito from El Rio Verde or Costa Azul. Also included were two “sealed” tacos, almost empanadas that were easily dunked in the sauce.

      I was in heaven.

      A week later? It was a special again and I ordered it without considering other options. A month has passed and its not been on the menu again. If it is, I’ll order it. Unless the mole winds up on the menu, at which point I’ll order one to go for lunch the next day.

      The most consistently wonderful mexican food I have found in OK is in the humble little building in North Owasso, El Fagon.

  • Brian Schwartz 10:48 am on November 19, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    New chef at Smoke 

    Back in March there was a cooking competition with eight Tulsa chefs and two prizes. Michelle Donaldson of Polo Grill won one prize and Erik Reynolds from Smoke won the other. The other six chefs were losers. Now the two winners have joined forces. Michelle Donaldson is now cooking at Smoke. Erik remains head chef, but some of the specials are created by Michelle. And how wonderful they are! For example …
     
     
    Duck breast, meaty and perfectly cooked, lovely spice rub too, served with Bright Lights chard (a multicolored chard developed by a New Zealand breeder), butternut squash puree and a maple syrup and whisky reduction accented with a touch of rosemary. It was amazing! Too bad it was a special for one night only. I could eat it every day.
     
    That duck was created by Michelle, cooked by Erik, photographed by the Smoke staff. A perfect partnership.
     
    Now in my opinion the best thing at Smoke is the fish special so it’s important that Michelle be able to cook fish. Can she? Oh yeah, she can. Observe.
     
     
    I used to hate trout. Then I ate this. Now I love trout. Delicious, fresh-flavored trout with a wonderful sauce to bring out those flavors, a beurre blanc accented with lemon zest, capers and tarragon. Served with red wine basmati. I walked a mile to eat this fish and it was worth it.
     
     

  • Brian Schwartz 10:45 am on November 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    A Quick Trip to the Orient 

    On a dark and desolate block near Sheridan Road, right where you’d least expect it, there’s a magic golden door to the Orient.

     

    Step through, and Vietnamese food and friendly service await at Binh Le Restaurant, a restaurant run by members of the same family that have run Vietnamese restaurants such as Ri Le for 30 years. I found the food average at best, but several friends have advised me that the dishes, especially those on the vegetarian menu (which I did not try) are exceptionally good. Here’s what we had.

    Deluxe Bun Cha Gio, a cold and pleasantly flavored noodle salad with beef, chicken and egg rolls.

    Fried rice.

    Binh Le

    5903 E 31 St.

    835-7722

    Open daily (except Sunday) from 11 AM to 9:30 PM

     

    • Michael 1:06 pm on November 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      What exactly makes this block so “dark” and “desolate”?

      Is it the thriving shopping centers which surround it? The headquarters of one of Tulsa’s largest companies within sight? You seem to use this imagery an awful lot…that Tulsa is some kind of ghost town.

      The food here? It’s amazing, for sure.

      • Brian S. 9:37 am on November 12, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I didn’t realize I used the imagery a lot. I’m sorry. That particular block, 31st between Yale and Sheridan, driving it by night seemed so dark and empty until we got to the strip malls at the end. I walked that block by daylight several times years ago and it’s so very long and empty in the middle.

    • Debra Laizure 4:48 pm on November 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Brian – How can you go to Ri-Le and not eat vegetarian? He is the true guru / master / king of all things veggie protein. I love this place. And I have never ordered off the menu. Usually, Ri-Le himself is our waiter and creates a dish for us. I’m sure it’s probably the same thing every time, and it is the #3, but he makes us feel special regardless.

      They had a death in the family once and closed the restaurant for 2 or 3 months so they could go back to Vietnam. Longest few months of my life. Such a sweet family, and true mainstay of Tulsa cuisine.

      • Brian S. 9:57 pm on November 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        I’ve never eaten at Ri-Le. Now I really want to go there. What dish does he create, maybe I can ask for it.

        • Debra Laizure 3:39 pm on November 13, 2011 Permalink | Reply

          OMG! I just realized this was about another restaurant. I am so sorry. I saw the picture of the doorway and thought it was Ri-le’s. They have the SAME one.

          Anyway….just just order anything and you will certainly like it. The sesame chicken is really good, although it isn’t chicken…it’s soy protein. Yummy and healthy.

    • Jon 10:28 am on November 15, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Way too much MSG in there food for my tastes. You could say it is suited for American palate.

  • Brian Schwartz 9:02 am on October 29, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Eat at Doe’s! 

    “If you want a steak as good as ours,” the manager told me, “you’d have to go to Peter Luger’s in Brooklyn.” Well I can’t vouch for the truth of that, but I can tell you the steaks at Doe’s are crazy good.

     

    It was my first visit. Somehow, Doe’s was never on my radar. It should be. Stepping inside the building I’d always passed by without a thought, I found this.

     

      

     

    Certainly not elegant, but it’s the kind of interior that screams “serious steak!” Most of the older New York steakhouses look like that. Informal, with the wood-accented decor of an old-time bar. Old New York steakhouses are famed for their brusque service, but the waiters here were friendly and helpful. Of course I ordered their steak. I got a one-pound sirloin ($24). Included in the price of the steak is a nice small salad and potatoes. (Your choice of baked, boiled, mashed, French fries or sweet potato fries.) The salad and potatoes are fine, and the bread, which is a fried concoction a lot like a New Orleans beignet. Showing admirable self-control, I had them with honey for dessert. But the steak is the star of the show.

     

      

     

    Like all their steaks, it’s been aged 21 days. Perhaps that’s what gave it its incredible rich flavor. As I said, it was crazy good. Sirloin is the worst-quality steak you can get at Doe’s — and the cheapest (the smallest ribeye is $38 and the smallest porterhouse is $42 while you can get a sirloin a bit smaller than mine for $18) — so if the more expensive steaks are even better than the sirloin it just might be true what the manager said.

     

     
     
    I just had to get another look at that steak!

     

    Doe’s Eat Place

     

    1350 E. 15th St

     

    585-3637

     

     

    Open every day except for Sunday at 5:30 PM
     

  • Brian Schwartz 9:59 am on October 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Oktoberfest report and food question 

    Many magazines have said that Tulsa’s Oktoberfest is one of the finest in the world. I went for the first time last night and I’m here to tell you that it’s true. I got more than I bargained for when, around 7:15 PM, a surprise storm as strong as a hurricane swept through. Heaviest rain I’ve ever seen. They evacuated the main tent and everyone crowded into a smaller tent. An hour later the main tent reopened, the band played on and the crowd went wild. Roaring crazy wild and stayed that way till closing time. Nobody sat and lounged around, everyone stood and danced on benches and tables, about 30 to a table and all the tables were full. If you wanted to stroll the midway and sample food from each of the vendors, last night wasn’t your night. If you were wearing good shoes, you’re probably shopping for a new pair today. But if total wildness and Bacchanalia was what you wanted, it was your night to shine.
     
    FOOD QUESTION Okay here’s the food question. Suppose you knew a top food critic who was really hip to diner food, taco stands, cheap eats. And he said to you, oh all the Tulsa festival food is horrible. Of course you reply, no it’s not!! And he says, prove it! I will sample ONE dish from either Oktoberfest or the Tulsa State Fair.  What dish would you choose for him to sample?
     

  • Brian Schwartz 6:11 pm on October 17, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Great food from Argentina at Cambalache Grill — New Menu 

    Tulsa’s only Argentine restaurant sits neglected in a white stucco building just east of Garnett. That’s a shame. There’s great food there. There was a fine review on this website a few weeks ago but they’ve just changed the menu so I’m using that as an excuse to write this. They need the publicity.
     
    There are a lot of Italian immigrants to Buenos Aires, so restaurants there serve Italian food. So did Cambalache. But, the friendly waitress explained, they’ve taken all that off the menu since no one wanted it. Except for a few steaks Milanese (lightly fried with tomato sauce) and this great lasagna ($8.85)
     
     
    It was surprisingly good. Gooey, cheesy, creamy, and filled with ham and peas, Argentine style. I loved it. But the glory of Argentine cuisine is grilled meats, and the glory of Cambalache is their Parillada, a mixed grill for two. ($19, and they will make it for one person for about $10).  It’s grilled not barbecued, and there’s a difference. Just look.
     
     
    Everything on that huge grill was wonderful. We ate it all. On top is tiro de asado, beef short ribs. Not the ribs you get in a BBQ joint. They are like flavorful, juicy strips of ribeye. Then there’s chicken. My friends said the breast was dry but the leg I got was as juicy and succulent as anyone could hope for. There’s also a sausage and two pork ribs. The ribs were grilled and not smoked and they were a lot different from BBQ. Great fatty porky flavor. This dish also came with two empanadas, stuffed with ground meat, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and olives, and this fine salad.
     
     
    I don’t think you’ll find anything like this in Tulsa and it’s well worth the jaunt over to Garnett.
     
    Cambalache Grill
    11419 E 21 St
    437-0181
    Open 11 AM to 8:30 PM Mon – Sat
     

  • Brian Schwartz 9:52 am on October 2, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Freddie’s Apple Fries — the best food at the Fair 

    It was my first time at the fair. I’ve wanted to go each year and then thought of all sorts of logical reasons why I couldn’t. Last night I just phoned a taxi and went. I got there at 6, found a beer stand, strolled the midway. Perfect fair weather, you couldn’t ask for better. I looked in on the big barn to the north where they were having cow contests. Stall after stall of real live cows with cowboy families grooming them. I strolled the midway some more. I drank beer after beer. I heard a Seattle band named Candlebox play an awesome set. I walked and walked past monster rides and screaming kids and carny barkers and brightly painted food stalls and huge ferris wheels set against the darkening sky. The guess-your-weight guy was taking a break. “I bet you get to see the whole U.S.A.” I told him.  ”No, I’m from New Jersey and all we do is go up and down the East Coast,” he said. “You’re not on the East Coast now,” I said. And that was my night, lots of lights and noise and crowds of people and I wasn’t bored, not for a second. As the clock pushed eleven I ran inside the QuikTrip Center and got my first fair food. Apple fries at Freddie’s.
    Those apple fries were the best fair food I’ve ever eaten. This is pretty much a tautology since it is the ONLY fair food I’ve ever eaten. But I have eyes and I’ve read a lot of fair food reports, and I think that if I had eaten every food item described in all those reports, Freddie’s would still come out on top. Most fair food you eat in order to be able to say you’ve done it. “I ate a fried burger stuffed inside a deep-fried donut and topped with fried beer!” Those Freddie’s fries wouldn’t disappoint if offered as dessert in a top restaurant. They were not fatty, they were not greasy, they were not coated in batter, and it’s hard to believe they were deep-fried. They were nothing but perfect apple dusted with cinnamon. Alongside was a big dollop of whipped cream. And I’m talking the unmistakable flavor of FRESH HANDMADE whipped cream. Nothing beats that. A tiny bit of a red jam at the edge, and a rich lovely caramel sauce too. It’s worth $4.50. It’s worth a trip to the Fair.
     

    • Debra Laizure 11:08 am on October 4, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Those look great! That’s my kind of fair food!

    • Misty 2:38 pm on October 11, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I have to say I had never had these before…until the last day of the fair and I will never deny myself again. Oh the joy DELICIOUS!!! For anyone who has never had them before the way I described them upon my first bite is eating just the top of an apple crumble or baked apples rolled and fried in cinnamon toast crunch crumbs. I love them with the caramel and the whipped topping, but I could do without the red drizzle on the whipped cream..I think it competes….

      .Also it is one of the very few things you can get at the fair where you REALLY get your monies worth for that $4.50 as you get plenty enough for two people…I don’t think Id have been able to eat anything else all day if I tried to eat them all. I had a few new treats this year and I liked most everything, but I am very happy to know that these will FOR SURE be there next year:)

  • Brian Schwartz 8:51 am on September 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Honduras in Tulsa (with a bit of El Salvador too) 

    I don’t know quite what El Salvador looks like, but take one step inside Pupuseria y Tienda and you feel like you’re there. It’s a tiny place, Salvadoran flags everywhere, Spanish-language TV on the wall, Salvadoran families leisurely eating their meals. A friendly family runs the place, and the mother speaks English. When I first visited, in late 2009, I ordered pupusas ($2.50 each) — how could I not? it’s El Salvador’s famous dish — and fried plantains($7). The pupusas are stuffed cornmeal flatbreads cooked on a griddle. I’d never had them before, and this version, stuffed with chicharron, which in El Salvador, unlike elsewhere in Latin America, means fried shredded pork, was toothsome indeed. The fried plantains were sweet, and served with a sauce made out of black beans topped with a dollop of sour cream.
     
    I and my friends stopped by last night. I was hoping to write a nice pupusa review for the main blog but we were thwarted. I’d left my wallet at home, relying on my friend’s credit card, and of course they take cash only. So we couldn’t eat. But I did check out the menu. It’s vastly expanded. They have the pupusas of course, but lots of entrees besides. Stuff like stewed chicken, various beef dishes, and yuca con chicharron. Everything except the pupusas is from Honduras, they told me. Perhaps they have a Honduran chef now. They have baleadas, the thick Honduran equivalent of a taco. And from what they said on weekends they serve Honduras’ most famous dish, sopa de caracol. That’s conch stewed in coconut milk. I’ve had it in New York. That New York stew was, I wrote, “a big steaming bowl full of big chunks of plantain, cassava and pepper bobbing in a yellow broth. There was also a big piece of conch, which had little taste since it had yielded all its flavor to the broth. And what a broth it was! Redolent of the tang of the sea, rich in salty flavor, it was everything I’ve always wanted a chowder to be — but never found until now.” Next time I go back, that’s what I want. And I’ll be carrying cash.  
     
    Pupuseria y Tienda El Salvador
    13 S Sheridan Rd
    Tulsa
    836-7389
    open until around 7 PM but CLOSED Monday and Tuesday
     

  • Brian Schwartz 9:52 am on September 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Smoke’s daily fish specials are the best fish in Tulsa 

    Whoever said there’s nothing new under the sun must have known that Smoke’s market fish specials, totally new unique and different each day of the year, only come out at night. I think Smoke serves the best fish in Tulsa. Usually the fish is grilled and the guys at the grill are masters. They work wonders on firm, white-fleshed fish such swordfish, halibut, escolar, sea bass or tuna. The fish is cooked to perfection. Juicy, full of flavor, a joy to eat. Sometimes the fish picks up the smoky, woodsy flavor of the woodfire grill. Let last night’s special serve as an example.
     
     
    Supernal swordfish, perfectly grilled as always, sits atop an asparagus risotto. Those enormous long-stemmed mushrooms are also grilled, and their flavor pairs well with the fish. Ditto for the carrots. That rich brown gravy is a delicious brandy peppercorn sauce. Too much of that would drown out the fish’s flavor, but the layer on top of the fish is very thin.
     
    You can’t eat this fish. It was served last night only, for $28. But there’ll be something just as good tonight.
     

  • Brian Schwartz 10:10 am on September 4, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Tasting the World 

    Here is the beginning of an essay that popped into my head last night as I sat drinking beer in Club Ivey. I probably won’t complete it. But its theme is not only interesting but important. It argues that taste is a form of perception radically different from sight and reason. It follows that the increased exposure nowadays of average people to gourmet food and restaurants will change the way our society views (or should I say tastes?) the world.
     
     
    Late in the summer of 2000, an important event and harbinger of things to come occurred unnoticed. A film called “Autumn in New York” opened, to overwhelmingly bad reviews, in American theaters. It’s rather derivative, a retelling of an old old story. A rich older celebrity falls for a younger, and much poorer, woman. There were films like it in the 1930s, and the male lead would have been a socialite who inherited his wealth. In the 1980s, he would have been a corporate exec, or maybe a Wall Street trader. But in this film, he was a chef. A generation before, if a chef had been invited to visit that socialite’s house, he would have entered, like all servants, by the back door. But now, the art of taste had finally arrived.

     
    Scientists, philosophers, and men of reason don’t think much of food. Though the chemical reactions involved in something as seemingly simple as grilling meat are incredibly complex and, even today, mostly unknown, you won’t find top scientists whipping up gourmet meals. Plato, perhaps the first to extol the use of reason to order one’s perceptions, thought of food as little more than fuel, and eating a necessary if inconvenient chore. In one dialogue, attempting to arrive at a definition of “good”, he has Socrates ask, and when you say that this food is better than that, you of course mean that it is more nutritious. The scientist, the philosopher, sees the world and he is respected. What is it about tasting the world that causes it to be undervalued?
     
    Tasting the world instead of seeing it is a radical shift in consciousness, and perhaps it is only our Western culture that neglects it. Hard-headed men of reason don’t want their primacy challenged. But challenged it was, in a book that made nary a ripple in the literary pond, by, of all people, a French Benedictine monk in a book that was published in Abidjan, West Africa, in 1972. The book was called La Vie Quotidienne dans un Village Baoule, and was later published by an obscure company in Washington under the title “Life with the Baoule”. The Baoule are an Akan tribe who live in the Ivory Coast and Father Guerry, a missionary, had spent much time in their villages. He had come to convert them, but they had converted him.
     
    “Our first need as Occidentals,” he wrote, “is to see clearly when we want to understand a thing or event.” This requires stepping back to gain perspective, which entails books and maps and graduate degrees. Science and reason.  But a “Baoule faced with an object or event,” he writes, “will not want to see it as much as to taste it. To understand a thing, he has to internalize it, experience it, ‘eat it’ (be di) The impact is sensual rather than visual. Only physical contact will enable him to understand this thing completely, to find out whether it is ‘sweet’ or ‘bitter’.”
     
     

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