How Good Food Reminds Us To Slow Down

I've been doing lots of French cooking lately. I think after a summer of hurrying and trying to fit so much in because our warm summers are so short, I was craving the opportunity to slow down. That slow down was also much needed in my cooking. And French cooking is all about slooooow.

Over the summer, most of our meals were quick like grilled meats and veggies, salads, etc. With fall starting to push its way in and, with the kids back at school, it's like we are given permission to slow down. Even the foods we tend to eat in fall require slower cooking to taste good. Vegetables like squash, carrots, rutabaga, parsnips, pumpkins - these foods require time to make their flavours come out. They loved to be roasted, simmering in broth on the stove or in the crockpot for hours. They are giving us permission to slow down.

In our home today, we are having homemade bolognese sauce made with tomatoes I roasted and strained. I also have onions, garlic, carrots, zucchini and spices mingling together in the pot. The secret to most good food is time. The longer my sauce simmers, the better it will taste. Cooking tells us its time to slow down but, in our hurried society, we are always looking for a way to speed up our meals both in the eating and the preparation. We seem to have forgotten the ritual and respect involved with food.

Most cooking shows and recipe books are trying to find us ways to eat healthy food but as fast as possible. And if you don't have time to cook, don't worry! Fast food chains have found ways to make your food available as fast as possible. You can even eat it in your car! But we all know there are very few healthy choices there for our families. Luckily, the industry is starting to change a little. Places like Qdoba or Chipotle Mexican Grill are allowing us to still eat quickly but at least with whole foods on the menu.

As I was stirring my sauce pot today I was thinking, the problem is not how to make food prep and eating faster, it's how do we learn to slow down in all aspects of our lives? It's no wonder North America is getting fatter by the decade - food isn't a ritual anymore. It's about getting it as fast as possible and shoving it down as fast as possible.

Obviously, I'm fortunate. I work from home which means I can have food simmering on the stove all day while other busy moms are at work punching a clock. But maybe the problem is that we are all trying to work more, do more, make more money, get our kids into as many activities as possible.... More, faster, bigger... but is does that make everything better?

If we look at Europeans, France and Italy in particular, they still take so much time and care in preparing their food and eating it. Meals can take hours. But overall, in all aspects of life, they are happy to slow things down. Incidentally, they seem to also have lower levels of obesity than we do in North America. Coincidence? Mindful eating plays into all of this of course. When we take our time, we can actually sense when our bodies are satisfied. If we inhale our food, by the time we know we are overly full, it's too late.

If you haven't seen the documentary series "Cooked" on Netflix, I highly recommend it. It looks at the rituals involved in the gathering and preparation of good, wholesome food. I absolutely loved how it reminds us of the importance of respecting the food itself and the process to make it taste incredible. And, in most cases, slowing down is the key.

Last week, I made French onion soup and boeuf bourguignon. Both these recipes are time consuming but the taste? Out of this world! Turns out when you cook onions down for an hour, they turn this beautiful, rich, golden brown colour with a depth of flavour that is sweet yet bold. And the secret to browning beef for your stew? Dry your meat well and don't crowd the pan. This means that browning the meat can take a good hour depending on the size of your pot. Then the stew has to cook for 3 hours. It. Takes. Forever. But it is so worth it.

Admittedly, this is not your every night kind of dinner. These would be great dishes to make on weekends and to have as leftovers during the week, but my point is that by getting back to basics, cooking real food, real slow, with real intent, it changes everything in our lives. It reminds us that food, and all aspects of our lives, require time and respect. It reminds us to sit down and talk with our kids over the dinner table. It reminds us to ask our grandmas to show us how to make homemade bread before it's too late. Food is not just fuel, it is culture, it's tradition, it's family.

I think if we all slowed down in all areas of our lives, the health of our bodies and families would reflect that. I think we'd all find so much more peace.