Enchanted by Creation

In my aesthetic gastronomy class (philosophy of cooking and eating in lay terms) we just finished reading "The Art of Eating" by M.F.K. Fisher. This book is difficult to describe in terms of genre, it is mostly autobiographical, partly historical, somewhat philosophical and completely enjoyable. Fisher's book sees the world as centered around food. She takes delight in things as simple as a loaf of bread with butter and a glass of wine. And yet at the same time her descriptions of amazing feasts can be mouth-watering.

Although Fisher is an Atheist, it seems at times that she has a higher regard for and love of Creation than many Christians do. She does not see food as mere sustenance, a means to filling the body. Her love of food lies in the nature of food itself. She shows to the reader so many layers of depth and richness in something as simple as an oyster. Fisher truly marvels at the way the world is made.
This approach of seeing the world as centered around food is a distinctly Christian outlook. Man first fell because of food, the Old Testament sacrifices presented food as an offering to God, the once and for all Sacrifice of Christ is a fulfillment of all of these previous offerings, and each week we gather to remember His death and be renewed with a meal. At the end of time the Church Triumphant will sit down to the glorious Supper of the Lamb.

So why as Christians should we cook, and in fact are called to cook well? Because in this, as in anything that we do that expresses creativity and invention, we are imitating our God and Father, the Creator and Inventor of cooking. And as His imitators, we should share His love of stuff. He was the one who gave us mushrooms and onions, wine and bread, snails and crab, milk and honey. He loved the world so much He filled it with exciting and intriguing food, and our cooking should reflect this same type of love. As we cook we are being God-like, we are reflecting His inventiveness and His creativity, and ultimately His love of excess.

This is an entirely Anti-Platonic approach to life. We are not just pilgrims on this earth, Christ came to earth to redeem not only us, but the whole world. At the end of time we will all be coming back here, and we will be sharing in the great Supper of the Lamb as the Bride of Christ. And so again, why do we cook? We are preparing our taste-buds, and refining them, so that when we sit down at the Supper of the Lamb we can enjoy the food our Bridegroom sets before us to the fullest.