And God said: Behold I have given you every herb-bearing seed upon the earth, and all the trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat. – Genesis 1:29
Vegetarianism is harmless enough, though it is apt to fill a man with wind and self-righteousness. – Sir Robert Hutchinson
It was food nerd heaven…or at least as close to heaven on earth as a food nerd can get. A convocation of chefs, restaurateurs, teachers and journalists from around the world once a year the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley. This year’s theme was: A Mediterranean Flavor Odyssey, subtitled: Preserving And Reinventing Traditions For Modern Palates, and the CIA flew in the most famous chefs from Tunisia,Turkey, Morocco, Israel, Sicily, Greece and Spain to educate the movers and shakers in the American food industry on what they could learn from the way the rest of the world eats.
It wasn’t just snooty critics and Michelin-starred chefs in attendance (although there were plenty of those) – as the conference counted as its attendees the head corporate chefs from McDonalds, Frito-Lay, and…believe it or not: Pizza Hut. All of them came (and have been coming for eleven years) to discover “the next big thing” in how America eats.