I was sitting on a pier at a lake somewhere on Vancouver Island in British Columbia and in my hand held a perfect pear. A “perfect pear” has a window of about 20 minutes, some pear growers will tell you, and of course they know best. My pear must at least have been close to that 20 minute window – it smelled incredibly complex, fruity and yet robust, and the rough skin left a tad of tartness and expectation on my tongue. Then I took a bite, and held the piece in my mouth for a moment before chewing it further. While my pear was still perfectly firm, sweet juice ran down on both sides of my chin and trickled down my throat. I chewed slowly and I’m sure I was blushing, as this was one of the most intimate encounters I’ve ever had with a piece of fruit. For the entire time I was eating it, I had my eyes closed. I realized that our sense of taste is as good as we pay attention to it. Silly us, for any meal eaten with our eyes open…

Posted in Eat |