More on Foodways: Mana

[pantryslut]

This small discussion of another aspect of my foodways is part confession. I'm honestly embarrased by it. It sounds hopelessly superstitious and non-rational, but I can't think of any other way to put it:

Home-cooked food has mana. Other food -- from the hautest of the haute, to fast food, and most importantly, everything in between -- does not.

This is how I know:

If I don't eat home-cooked food in a certain span of time, I start to wilt. Seriously. I start to have cravings, I start to feel vaguely ill. Tired. Run down. This span of time? A week, maybe two.

I don't have to cook the food myself, mind you. Any home-cooked meal will do.

I don't know how to explain this phenomenon without referring to something akin to the concept of mana -- the idea that there's something immanent in home-cooked food that just doesn't exist in commercially prepared food, no matter how fresh, how quality, how attentively prepared.

All I know is, I recognize the wilting, its cause, and its cure.

Comments

[n-elisbeth.livejournal.com]

I agree!
I need my home cooking every couple of days or I start to get cranky from all the eating out. It's just not the same and I love the process of cooking or, on the rare occasion that it happens, having someone cook for me.

I've been on a kick lately of making oven roasted potatoes with rosemary, olive oil, and s&p, bake until their are nice and crispy on at least one side...yummy! Oven roasted zucchini and onion with olive oil, s&p are also hitting the spot for me and I get to make space in the fridge to go to the farmer's market tomorrow!

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Okay! I didn't answer the frugality post, because all I knew how to say was *nod, yes, it's exactly like that* But this post I can say first *nod, yes, it's exactly like that* and second, "and I never knew how to talk about it before."

Thank you!

[pennski.livejournal.com]

Yes - that's exactly it.

It is a similar kind of wilting to that brought on by not having any time alone, or not having any time to read fiction.

[panjianlien.livejournal.com]

Yes, this is correct, in my experience. I don't think you need to feel embarrassed by it. It's just the Way It Is.

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

Does this limit your traveling?

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've been on a vacation longer than two weeks ever, so no, it doesn't limit my traveling. I just eat a lot at home once I get back. Also, for some reason, shopping at groceries and outdoor markets and assembling picnicky food is OK. Apparently I can live for a long time on bread, cheese, cold cuts, and fruit.

[jean-roberta.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think you're onto something.

I've also wondered if individual cooks each have their OWN mana since a tenant/long-term houseguest said she could tell which meals were cooked by me & which by Partner because of differences in taste.