Zina, my heart leapt (really!) to see a reader of De Anima here! Come over and visit my Substack when you have a chance: This Won’t End Well: On Loving Greek Tragedy. And I do mean “when you have a chance.” You’re busy!
Thank you! I know what you mean - I have hundreds more followers than subscribers even though my stack is free. I can’t keep up with all the wonderful writers I subscribe to. I wish I could! Btw I checked out The Catherine Project, which sounds so good. I know someone who’d be perfect for it once he retires (soon) if you all are ever looking for more group leaders.
Yes! Cooking and eating are for the soul, not just the necessity of nourishment or the hedonism of experiencing delicious food. And festivals are for the joy we get out of communing with other people and with God, not just for, like having a good time.
I love this post and can almost taste the lumpia.
I wrote recently about cooking and memory, also. It's here:
Zina, great article! Thanks for sharing this experience with us. I believe food is a fantastic way to explore other cultures. During our recent vacation to Italy we made sure to try all the local cuisine. It was fascinating to see how the different regions of Italy had different styles of food based on geography and culture.
We made many Filipino friends in Washington state and San Diego when I was stationed on the west coast. We love Filipino cuisine and enjoyed participating in cultural events. Hope you had a great summer. All the best, Matthew
Hi, Matthew! So glad to see your name in the comments. Loved your Italy pictures thus far, and I am looking forward to seeing more of your Substack writing now that you’re back.
I've not read The Supper of the Lamb, but I read Capon's Bed and Board many years ago and thoroughly appreciated his musings on housekeeping and marriage.
Dom always says that he thinks man was made able to eat food precisely so that we are able to partake of the Eucharistic feast.
This is very good. I'm surprised Capon's book is still around. About 50 yrs. ago, I read it with beautiful friend of mine married to a psychiatrist in Vermont. I was living in the country and first met them when he was an intern at a Fargo hospital, then they moved away. Later I moved away to MPLS and returned to Catholicism. I was happy when they converted to Christianity, but they stopped at Episcopalianism. You should read the end of Capon's book closely. He is fascinating, but an unholy sensualist. His NYTimes obituary mentioned his unorthodox theology and how he lost his job as an Episcopal priest because he divorced. At the end, he writes about using baking soda for heartburn, then about a "higher distress for which the earth has no cure." He writes that splendid dinners, food, company arouse other appetites. He calls those appetites a man's thirst for being. He invites his readers to not avoid offered love. He compares a man seducing a "girl with high cheekbones" to a priestly agent, and then has the blasphemous gall to compare that kind of love to Christ's passion. "Love is the widest, choicest door into the Passion." My friend was studying art, and Capon's immoral musings weakened her while one of her professors was feeding her a similar line of BS. She decided to stay faithful only after she naively told her husband about the bogus premise of adulterous love being a way to the Kingdom, he was deeply hurt.
Yes, that chapter on heartburn was odd. And I did at least read his Wikipedia page but nothing really cued me into the details of what you are talking about. I am currently in the middle of a Catherine Project on Geoffrey Hill’s poetry (he was an Anglican poet and divorced the mother of his four children and married an Anglican minister, etc.) and I am interestingly seeing parallel issues as you point them out. I will try to write more in depth later since I am trying to get to an event and later helping my mother with errands, but I really appreciate your thoughts! I hope you chime in with more if you think of them!
Reminds me of the first time I heard a woman preacher at a Methodist church when they started ordaining women. (I tried that denomination out on my way back to the One True Church.) She proudly said that when she was studying to be a minister and her husband objected to what she perceived as her "calling," she divorced him. Sounds like Geoffrey Hill was similarly deluded. No need to respond further. Take care of your errands, and have a blessed day.
I'm so happy to see you sharing your culture! I wish all of my ancestral heritages had been passed on to me, but several did not for survival reasons. That festival sounds so special.
Good to see your writing again, my friend. I had Filipino friends years ago and I loved the food they made. Thank you for bringing back those memories. 🇵🇭
Zina, my heart leapt (really!) to see a reader of De Anima here! Come over and visit my Substack when you have a chance: This Won’t End Well: On Loving Greek Tragedy. And I do mean “when you have a chance.” You’re busy!
I love the title of your substack! Yes, I just checked and see that I am already subscribed. It’s so hard to tell if I am following vs. subscribing!
Thank you! I know what you mean - I have hundreds more followers than subscribers even though my stack is free. I can’t keep up with all the wonderful writers I subscribe to. I wish I could! Btw I checked out The Catherine Project, which sounds so good. I know someone who’d be perfect for it once he retires (soon) if you all are ever looking for more group leaders.
Cooking is love, indeed.
Yes! Cooking and eating are for the soul, not just the necessity of nourishment or the hedonism of experiencing delicious food. And festivals are for the joy we get out of communing with other people and with God, not just for, like having a good time.
I love this post and can almost taste the lumpia.
I wrote recently about cooking and memory, also. It's here:
https://doctrixperiwinkle.substack.com/p/how-i-learned-to-cook
Just read it your essay and commented. Excellent post! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you!
Zina, great article! Thanks for sharing this experience with us. I believe food is a fantastic way to explore other cultures. During our recent vacation to Italy we made sure to try all the local cuisine. It was fascinating to see how the different regions of Italy had different styles of food based on geography and culture.
We made many Filipino friends in Washington state and San Diego when I was stationed on the west coast. We love Filipino cuisine and enjoyed participating in cultural events. Hope you had a great summer. All the best, Matthew
Hi, Matthew! So glad to see your name in the comments. Loved your Italy pictures thus far, and I am looking forward to seeing more of your Substack writing now that you’re back.
I've not read The Supper of the Lamb, but I read Capon's Bed and Board many years ago and thoroughly appreciated his musings on housekeeping and marriage.
Dom always says that he thinks man was made able to eat food precisely so that we are able to partake of the Eucharistic feast.
This is very good. I'm surprised Capon's book is still around. About 50 yrs. ago, I read it with beautiful friend of mine married to a psychiatrist in Vermont. I was living in the country and first met them when he was an intern at a Fargo hospital, then they moved away. Later I moved away to MPLS and returned to Catholicism. I was happy when they converted to Christianity, but they stopped at Episcopalianism. You should read the end of Capon's book closely. He is fascinating, but an unholy sensualist. His NYTimes obituary mentioned his unorthodox theology and how he lost his job as an Episcopal priest because he divorced. At the end, he writes about using baking soda for heartburn, then about a "higher distress for which the earth has no cure." He writes that splendid dinners, food, company arouse other appetites. He calls those appetites a man's thirst for being. He invites his readers to not avoid offered love. He compares a man seducing a "girl with high cheekbones" to a priestly agent, and then has the blasphemous gall to compare that kind of love to Christ's passion. "Love is the widest, choicest door into the Passion." My friend was studying art, and Capon's immoral musings weakened her while one of her professors was feeding her a similar line of BS. She decided to stay faithful only after she naively told her husband about the bogus premise of adulterous love being a way to the Kingdom, he was deeply hurt.
Yes, that chapter on heartburn was odd. And I did at least read his Wikipedia page but nothing really cued me into the details of what you are talking about. I am currently in the middle of a Catherine Project on Geoffrey Hill’s poetry (he was an Anglican poet and divorced the mother of his four children and married an Anglican minister, etc.) and I am interestingly seeing parallel issues as you point them out. I will try to write more in depth later since I am trying to get to an event and later helping my mother with errands, but I really appreciate your thoughts! I hope you chime in with more if you think of them!
Reminds me of the first time I heard a woman preacher at a Methodist church when they started ordaining women. (I tried that denomination out on my way back to the One True Church.) She proudly said that when she was studying to be a minister and her husband objected to what she perceived as her "calling," she divorced him. Sounds like Geoffrey Hill was similarly deluded. No need to respond further. Take care of your errands, and have a blessed day.
I'm so happy to see you sharing your culture! I wish all of my ancestral heritages had been passed on to me, but several did not for survival reasons. That festival sounds so special.
Good to see your writing again, my friend. I had Filipino friends years ago and I loved the food they made. Thank you for bringing back those memories. 🇵🇭