(Leadership Researcher and yoga teacher. Food lover. Grew up in a strong food culture from home. Very concerned about health in relation to her yoga practice. Cooks often food and throw larger dinner parties for firends. Avid viewer of food programs on TV. Sees cooking as a way to care for herself and others).
I meet Birgitte at home while she is preparing for her dinner party tonight. Her friend Rasmus is coming over to help her cook, but she is responsible for the shopping. She is going over her cookbooks with Vietnamese recipes. Fresh spring rolls with dips, home made parsnip chips, ecological chicken, tiger prawns, and then ginger marinated oranges with macaroon whipped cream for dessert. Everybody brings their own champagne. It’s a champagne party.
Organic and Fresh
As a single mom, Birgitte is not particularly well off. She by no means considers this an impediment to being a Food Lover. “Good food doesn’t have to be expensive”, she says. “Good food is about buying fresh ingredients from the season and about giving it lots of taste.” Despite her limited financial means, she consistently buys organic products. In connection with her masters thesis she conducted field work in the meat industry, and since then she has never eaten an industrial chicken. “They fill these creatures with so much crap you wouldn’t believe it. And it stays in your system for a whole life time.” Birgitte would rather put less meat in her meal and keep it ecological than buy industrial meat. “You just add more vegetables”, she explains
Traditional cooking in new versions
Birgitte is fascinated with the current trend in Scandinavian cooking which resurrects traditional recipes in slightly altered or moderated form. “I’m a great fan of Camilla Plum”, she says, with reference to a famous Danish cook who specializes in traditional Danish cooking and organic home grown products. “There’s just so much TASTE in her meals.” Although she is a great fan, she finds that Camilla Plum’s “scams”, selling home made pancakes with “blueberries picked by my own children” at 6 £ a piece are too far out. “That’s just pulling people’s leg”, she scoffs.
The Shopping Trajectory
When Birgitte shops, she has a fixed trajectory: She starts in in the discount supermarket Netto to see which of the necessary ingredients you can get there cheap. “They don’t have a big selection, but their organic vegetables are often fresh, because they have so many customers that the circulation is big”. After Netto, she continues to the special shops. Today it’s the Thai shop, because she is making spring rolls. Here she buys the rice paper for the rolls, the fish sauce, the sesame oil, the special fresh herbs and the tiger prawns. “Sometimes I’m a little hesitant to buy fish in here, because they don’t have the same restrictions on chemicals etc.”. After the Thai shop comes the local green shop. And as the final destination she goes to the regular supermarket to buy the remaining ingredients. “This is my usual round”, she smiles.
As a single mom, Birgitte is not particularly well off. She by no means considers this an impediment to being a Food Lover. “Good food doesn’t have to be expensive”, she says. “Good food is about buying fresh ingredients from the season and about giving it lots of taste.” Despite her limited financial means, she consistently buys organic products. In connection with her masters thesis she conducted field work in the meat industry, and since then she has never eaten an industrial chicken. “They fill these creatures with so much crap you wouldn’t believe it. And it stays in your system for a whole life time.” Birgitte would rather put less meat in her meal and keep it ecological than buy industrial meat. “You just add more vegetables”, she explains
Traditional cooking in new versions
Birgitte is fascinated with the current trend in Scandinavian cooking which resurrects traditional recipes in slightly altered or moderated form. “I’m a great fan of Camilla Plum”, she says, with reference to a famous Danish cook who specializes in traditional Danish cooking and organic home grown products. “There’s just so much TASTE in her meals.” Although she is a great fan, she finds that Camilla Plum’s “scams”, selling home made pancakes with “blueberries picked by my own children” at 6 £ a piece are too far out. “That’s just pulling people’s leg”, she scoffs.
The Shopping Trajectory
When Birgitte shops, she has a fixed trajectory: She starts in in the discount supermarket Netto to see which of the necessary ingredients you can get there cheap. “They don’t have a big selection, but their organic vegetables are often fresh, because they have so many customers that the circulation is big”. After Netto, she continues to the special shops. Today it’s the Thai shop, because she is making spring rolls. Here she buys the rice paper for the rolls, the fish sauce, the sesame oil, the special fresh herbs and the tiger prawns. “Sometimes I’m a little hesitant to buy fish in here, because they don’t have the same restrictions on chemicals etc.”. After the Thai shop comes the local green shop. And as the final destination she goes to the regular supermarket to buy the remaining ingredients. “This is my usual round”, she smiles.
Sensuality and Care for the Self
Just after her divorce, Birgitte had a period where she neglected her cooking. “Then the other day I picked up my Camilla Plum cookbook again, and I realized that I had stopped thinking about which vegetables and fruits were in season. I used to always look forward to September because it was pumpkin season, for example.” She continues: “That just brought tears to my eyes. It was so sad that I had not showed this care for myself and taken the time for this sensual joy in my life!” So now Birgitte is determined to take the time for slow cooking and enjoying the seasonal specialities. Although cooking for kids often becomes very practical, she wants to introduce the love of food to them too.
Guests
“I come from a family of five, and we always had at least one or two dinner guests every night. So for me cooking is associated with big meals. Somehow I just can’t cook small meals. Either I just don’t make real food at all or I end up making giant portions. I want to learn to make real food for us at home.” Birgitte loves cooking for other people and having guests. When she was married, she and her husband used to cook elaborate meals for each other. After the divorce, her cooking sort of went into hibernation. Somehow, recovering from the divorce and resuming cooking feels connected. Cooking for guests just makes it even better. She walks around the Thai shop thinking about tonight’s spring rolls. “I’m always terrified there’s too little food for the guests. I’m wondering if we should buy some more meat? Nah... we should be ok.”, she concludes
Just after her divorce, Birgitte had a period where she neglected her cooking. “Then the other day I picked up my Camilla Plum cookbook again, and I realized that I had stopped thinking about which vegetables and fruits were in season. I used to always look forward to September because it was pumpkin season, for example.” She continues: “That just brought tears to my eyes. It was so sad that I had not showed this care for myself and taken the time for this sensual joy in my life!” So now Birgitte is determined to take the time for slow cooking and enjoying the seasonal specialities. Although cooking for kids often becomes very practical, she wants to introduce the love of food to them too.
Guests
“I come from a family of five, and we always had at least one or two dinner guests every night. So for me cooking is associated with big meals. Somehow I just can’t cook small meals. Either I just don’t make real food at all or I end up making giant portions. I want to learn to make real food for us at home.” Birgitte loves cooking for other people and having guests. When she was married, she and her husband used to cook elaborate meals for each other. After the divorce, her cooking sort of went into hibernation. Somehow, recovering from the divorce and resuming cooking feels connected. Cooking for guests just makes it even better. She walks around the Thai shop thinking about tonight’s spring rolls. “I’m always terrified there’s too little food for the guests. I’m wondering if we should buy some more meat? Nah... we should be ok.”, she concludes
Butter and Oil
“I love butter!”, Birgitte exclaims. “You’re not worried about the calories?”, I ask her. Birgitte explains that she considers butter and oil to be the truly healthy sources of fat. “Fat is something your body stores for decades. If it’s filled with medical or chemical crap, you just carry it around forever, and you pass it on to your children. But oil and butter are pure, so I’m happy to eat it. Usually I buy really expensive organic oil. I’m happy to spend 10£ on a bottle of sesame oil rather than buying some cheap alternative.”
Birgitte uses butter for cooking and baking and for putting on bread. For frying she usually uses half butter, half oil. When frying something in the oven, she likes to add a slab of butter for extra taste. She never uses butter under cold cuts or spreads. When she uses butter on bread, the butter is the only spread she needs. “And I’m happy to put on a thick fat layer. Yumm! That’s just so tasty!”
She always buys organic butter. The taste is much better, she explains. For special occasions she might buy the luxury butter with “Læsø” salt – a sea salt produced on the Danish island of Bornholm.
Margarine or spreadable butter is a total no-go. It’s simply poor quality, Birgitte thinks. “When you eat butter, you have to eat the real deal!”, she asserts. “Don’t pump water and air into it, just so it’s easier to spread. Forget it!”
In fact, for Birgitte good food is about the ‘real deal’. It’s about providing sensuality for yourself and allowing yourself to taste and smell the fullness of good, fresh products. Worrying about fat is like denying yourself authentic love of food.
“I love butter!”, Birgitte exclaims. “You’re not worried about the calories?”, I ask her. Birgitte explains that she considers butter and oil to be the truly healthy sources of fat. “Fat is something your body stores for decades. If it’s filled with medical or chemical crap, you just carry it around forever, and you pass it on to your children. But oil and butter are pure, so I’m happy to eat it. Usually I buy really expensive organic oil. I’m happy to spend 10£ on a bottle of sesame oil rather than buying some cheap alternative.”
Birgitte uses butter for cooking and baking and for putting on bread. For frying she usually uses half butter, half oil. When frying something in the oven, she likes to add a slab of butter for extra taste. She never uses butter under cold cuts or spreads. When she uses butter on bread, the butter is the only spread she needs. “And I’m happy to put on a thick fat layer. Yumm! That’s just so tasty!”
She always buys organic butter. The taste is much better, she explains. For special occasions she might buy the luxury butter with “Læsø” salt – a sea salt produced on the Danish island of Bornholm.
Margarine or spreadable butter is a total no-go. It’s simply poor quality, Birgitte thinks. “When you eat butter, you have to eat the real deal!”, she asserts. “Don’t pump water and air into it, just so it’s easier to spread. Forget it!”
In fact, for Birgitte good food is about the ‘real deal’. It’s about providing sensuality for yourself and allowing yourself to taste and smell the fullness of good, fresh products. Worrying about fat is like denying yourself authentic love of food.
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