Detour: An Artistic Approach to Cooking

Late last year, I finally got to visit New York City. While I've been to every state in the continental U.S., I've never been close enough to New York City to justify the cost, time, and traffic. (Unless you count the time I flew into JFK for a business trip and then took a two-hour driving tour/parking space scavenger hunt of the city. But I'm note sure that stress-filled drive around the city counts.)

As a fan of art history, one of the classic NYC sites I was most looking forward to was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of my favorite art periods is the Baroque, so I was excited to learn that the MET housed a painting by Caravaggio, one of the most famous artists of the Baroque and my personal favorite. Alas, I did not get to see the MET's Caravaggio. In an unfortunate event of poor timing, the MET's European Masters exhibit was closed for renovation during my visit. 

However, there is a silver lining. Had the European Masters exhibit been open, I probably would have spent most, if not all, of my time in this exhibit. Since it was closed, I got to branch out and explore other exhibits. As I wandered from gallery to gallery, I was reminded of how different artists choose to represent the world. Some artists, like the Realists, focused on painting everyday life in as natural a manner as possible. If the Realist artists were chefs, they would be the ones who strive to get every tiny detail of the meal as close to the original recipe as possible.

But, one of my favorite paintings at the MET is not a realist painting. It's an Impressionist one. I've seen pictures of Claude Monet's Haystack series in countless art books, but seeing his Effect of Sun and Snow was an entirely different experience. In person, this painting is vibrant, beautiful, and moving. You can almost feel the briskness in the air, the warmth of the sun, and smell the hay. 

While Claude Monet's Haystacks may lack the level of accurate detail a photograph or Realism approach would provide, it offers something else. Impressionistic artists can make you feel the emotion of a place far more than a simple photograph or more visually "accurate" painting ever could.

I am not an artist, but I have seen the value of this Impressionistic approach in other areas of my life. For years, I've kept a journal. Through reading my old notebooks, I've learned that my favorite entries are not the specific, detailed logs chronicling everything I did on a particular day. Rather, the entries I appreciate the most are the ones where I focused on the sights and emotions of one small moment within the day. The journal entries that mean the most to me are the Impressionist ones.

So, I am taking an Impressionist approach to this culinary adventure. I will focus on how flavors, spices, and meals can help us feel we are someplace else without ever leaving the kitchen. Are you ready to feel transported to the next country? Check back early next week to experience the spices, flavors, and ingredients of the second country on our adventure!