poor them, the taste-blind

after reading ruth reichl's 3 books of memoirs in a blink, i was trying to decide which food author to devote myself to next. should i pick the politically-conscious, eco-minded michael pollan, who i abandoned a couple of years ago because it felt a bit too much like reading science, or should i opt for something a little more pithy, a little more romantic. seemed the right time to make my way through m.f.k. fisher's body of work (spanning 1930 through 1978). should keep me busy for a while. at least through the summer.

for those not familiar, m.f.k. fisher is 'la grande dame' of food writing. lover of good foods, good wines, good conversation, and great men. ruth reichl describes meeting her in the second of her books (Comfort Me With Apples), and it sounds as though she kept these passions alive well into her later days.

here's my favourite snippet so far, from fisher's essay Pity the Blind in Palate:

Almost all people are born unconscious of the nuances of flavour. Many die so. Some of these unfortunates are physically deformed, and remain all their lives as truly taste-blind as their brother sufferers are blind to colour. Others never taste because they are stupid, or, more often, because they have never been taught to search for differentiations of flavour.

They like hot coffee, a fried steak with plenty of salt and pepper and meat sauce upon it, a piece of apple pie and a chunk of cheese. They like the feeling of a full stomach. They resemble those myriad souls who say, "I don't know anything about music, but I love a good rousing military band."

think i've stumbled upon the margaret atwood of food writing. hallelujah!

this particular essay is one of twenty-five included in Serve It Forth, 1937.