the crudest sense? really? (also a recipe)

So the novelist Jonathan Safran Foer put out that book about vegetarianism that many found annoying and over the top in that way that advocacy books sometimes can be, and I mostly just chalked it up to that. But the other day the Financial Times ran this really amazing interview with him, conducted over lunch at Gobo in the West Village, and in it comes this passage:

For people who really like food, like me, such a linguistic approach to eating can sound just a little detached. It is noticeable that, in the book, Foer never once describes a vegetarian dish he really enjoys.

“Oh, I’d say I like a meal as much as anybody,” he tells me, mildly, as he browses the menu. “But I find a certain kind of foodiness silly, gluttonous and embarrassing.” He pauses, looking up. “Look, taste is clearly the crudest of our senses: this is scientifically, objectively factual. It is less nuanced. Eyesight is extraordinary – hearing, touch. I find people who devote their whole lives to taste a little strange.” He stresses the last words as if this was a vast understatement.

I don't even know what to do with that. Some of the most food-curious people I know are vegetarians, or other people who have somewhat limited their intake of certain foods, often because they have to be more adventurous. For quite a while people have tried to make the case that going vegetarian doesn't mean giving up on tasteful foods, and for Foer to run around saying that it shouldn't matter is just, not helping the cause.

Later he's very kind about poor folks:

One of the good things about vegetarianism, says Foer, it that it makes people “care more”. “I’m not sure why,” he says, “but a lot of my behaviour has changed. I’ve all but stopped buying things online. I want to live in a world where there are mom-and-pop stores, where everything isn’t homogenous ... Writing the book made me open my eyes a little bit wider.”

As a fellow resident of Park Slope, I know that ethical consumption can be a pleasurable retail experience – but what about less fortunate neighbourhoods? “Not everyone is going to move at the same pace,” he agrees. “Poor people will not move at the same pace as people with a disposable income. People who live in food deserts, who don’t have the same access, will move at a different pace to people who shop at Whole Foods.”

This is fantastic, especially considering that Whole Foods, as a company, doesn't give a shit about poor people. It's run by an infamously libertarian, pro-capitalist, anti-union and anti-safety net guy. And as anyone can see by its aggressive and acquisitive business practices (which it's paid for, a bit, in this recession) Whole Foods is not interested in preserving mom-and-pop stores, and within, Whole Foods is incredibly homogenous. That's the whole point of Whole Foods!

Mostly I just want calloocallay to beat the shit out of Foer for being an idiot and creating more anti-vegetarian people that she's going to have to roll her eyes at.

IN BETTER VEGETARIAN NEWS, I made a roasted eggplant dip for calloocallay and soupkills's Super Bowl party, only we put it out a little late so it became more of a hostess gift, she and I splitting the difference on it and a bag of pita. I had my leftovers for lunch the next day. She said she appreciated that there's some protein in the dip. It's a modified version of Nigella Lawson's Badenjean dip.

( roasted eggplant-garlic dip )