I eat alone, yeah with nobody else

     While reading 'A Place at the Counter: The Onus of Oneness' by Mary Lukanuski, I found myself thinking about the George Thorogood song, 'I Drink Alone'. Change drink to eat and the lyrics describe my thoughts on the subject of eating solo.
'I drink alone, yeah, with nobody else.
I drink alone, yeah, with nobody else.
Yeah, you know when I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself.' 
      I enjoy eating alone. I never thought of myself as an outcast, although those that observe my solo meals might think otherwise. I am comfortable being with myself more so than being with other people. I suppose that might make me an introvert but the reality is I like the quiet and calm that it affords. It's not that I don't enjoy having meals with my friends and family. I do enjoy their company. But it is not a necessity or requirement for me.
    Lukanuski writes that "At one time or another we have eaten by ourselves. We probably did so out of situation (we didn't have anyone to eat with) or schedule ( there wasn't time to invite a companion), and we probably were all too aware of how uncomfortable it felt being by ourselves." pg 112. I don't disagree with her statement but I feel there are more reasons that some people eat alone. There are somedays that I do not have the desire to be social while eating and somedays I just want to be alone. But I do not remember feeling uncomfortable while dining solo. 

     Although I doubt I would be considered part of the 'norm', I don't recall ever looking at a solo diner and feeling sorry. I do not think that I would invite them to join me in view of the fact that I would feel like I am intruding on their private time or moment. It never crossed my mind that some of the other diners might be looking at me with feelings of pity or suspicion because I was eating alone. It didn't occur to me that I was making such an eating etiquette fax paus. Next time I am sitting in a diner by myself, I will have to remember to observe the people around me. 
     The author mentions M.F.K. Fisher and quotes a passage about her opinion on eating alone. I do not know much about M.F.K. Fisher, I had to look her up to learn who she was, but I do like her attitude about eating by oneself. She writes in 'The Gastronomical Me', "...I could eat what I wanted and drink what I wanted...". She found a freedom in eating solo, a feeling of independence, that I find admirable. She had a capacity to be alone which I identify with.
      Eating is a necessity. When I am hungry I go purchase a meal. Sometimes I eat out and sometimes I eat in. Sometimes I eat with friends. The only requirement for me is that I get the essential nutrition my body needs and that I don't have a bad reaction to the food. Although I, like most others, do enjoy the conversations and socialization that can go along with sharing a meal, I can also enjoy a solo meal with me being my only companion.

Wiki Name and French Fries

Also found this but do not know how accurate it is: 

French Fries

While looking for the background on french fries.....

..... I stumbled across this interesting article.. Enjoy


Etymology of Food
Encyclopedia of Food and Culture | 2003 | Dalby, Andrew

       "Anglo-Norman was also the source of names for cooking methods, fry (French frire ) and boil (French bouillir )."
    

The Language and Culture Cocktail

         This chapter by F.L. Johnson, “Cultural Dimensions of Discourse” in 'Speaking Culturally', talks about the connection between culture and language and the influence each has upon the other. It looks at the many aspects of culture and language being used to shape the lives of people in a society and how culture and language from different backgrounds can be understood by someone who has a connection to the different communities. 

    Having lived in Israel which has a very different culture from the U.S., it allowed me an opportunity to observe how we use language to pass along our culture.The family that I lived with used the Friday night Shabbat dinner preparation to discuss various topics. The mother used the preparation time to pass along recipes from her Kurdish background. She used language of cooking in handing down her culture to her children and myself. You must understand that I come from a family, which had Friday night dinner together ( the Jewish Sabbath), and family dinner on Sundays, but my sisters and I didn’t really participate in the preparation or the cooking. We just came down when it was ready. My parents both worked when I was growing up, so we ate a lot of TV dinners and various other take-out. So it was a culture shock to be expected to participate in preparation, cooking, and serving of dinner, one that I quickly overcame. I discovered that it was very interesting to observe this process that was so foreign to me. I also learned new words, not only Hebrew but in Kurdish.         

         Being in Israel with that family and participating in their customs brought back many memories of my great grandmother. She would stay with us when I was younger. She liked to cook and used the time to talk about her family in Russia (it was still called Russia when I was a kid but the town is now in what is officially the Ukraine). She made the attempt to pass along her culture from her childhood to us, even if we were to young to really understand it. She not only used cooking but she would tell stories while we did laundry and while we cleaned. Unfortunately, I do not have a clear recollection of what she said but I do remember her taking the time to pass along her culture to me, even if I couldn’t appreciate it at the time.

The why and the reasons

Food
Any substance that is or can be consumed by living organisms,especially by eating, in order to sustain life. 

Origin: From Old English fōda, from Proto-Germanic fod-,by Grimm's law from Proto-Indo-European peh₂, poh₂ (“‘to protect’”).

Language 


      

A body of words an the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition


Origin: 1250–1300; ME < AF, var. sp. of langage, deriv. of langue tongue.See lingua, -age

I am doing this for a course I am taking about the Language of  Food. I decided to take the class because it sounded very interesting and it is one of those courses that is different. I am a budding linguist and I do not claim to be a food expert or anything of the sort. I do not like to cook and prefer someone else do the cooking, hence lots of take out. I have a strange relationship with food, due to food allergies. I have become a very picky eater. The list of things I can eat grows smaller every day. I make my family and friends nuts when we go out to eat asking lots of questions.  
Traveling around the world, I have been lucky to sample some of the various foods. Some of which I really enjoyed like the pizza and paninis in Rome. Some of the cuisine was not as tasty like the veal in Berlin. I have an affinity for Middle Eastern foods, probably my favorite thing to eat. But this is possibly because I can eat most of it without a bad reaction.
I spend a lot of time reading the list of ingredients on the packaging of foods. I chuckle when I look at the boxes labeled organic, as I usually find that there isn't even one organic item in the list of ingredients. 
Definitely makes one begin to wonder about what is truly in the food that we ingest.

Language of Food

Language of Food

Unfortunately, I was unable to access the whole article, not even in the Sprague Library. But from the first part of the article,  I think the author's association of food and comfort was very true. We do use food to try and make people more comfortable in an unknown situation. Parents use food to soothe a sick child in the same manner. We use 'comfort foods' to appease people, old and young,  on regular basis. 

I remember being sick as a child, my mother always made her 'all healing' chicken soup. Since she told us that it would make us feel better, it always did. Was it the words of reassurance from her or was it the actual soup? I think that it was her assuredness that it would make us feel better. That and the fact that mom sat with you as you ate the healing soup. 

Food is regularly used to try to make people feel better or to soothe anxeity in unknown situation or even to comfort those who are bereaved. In some parts of the world, people bring pies and cakes to new neighbors to welcome them into the area. Some cultures insists that you must eat when you visit in their homes. In all these situations, food is offered as a way of comforting the person into new and unknown situations.