FOR THE BROTHAS: CULTURE AND INTELLECTUALISM: GENTLEMEN WHO COOK...

FOR THE BROTHAS: AN INTRODUCTION

It must have been about 20 years ago when I first began thinking about creating a "Cultural Salon" as a reaction to the mundane social circles In Washington D.C. The richness of intellectual and artistic interchange had died, college friends had moved, the internet had not yet become the phenomenon it now is... I romanticised about the Salons of the mid to late 1800's in Paris, London and Berlin and the cultural dynamo of the Harlem Rennaisance. I was fortunate enough to meet a gentleman, an artist who lived and traveled with James Baldwin... Jimmy he affectionately called him, and he spoke often of their small cottage in southern France and of the many Artists, Poets and Luminaries that dropped in to chat and relax. Well, the impressionists, cubists, modernists, etc. all hung out together famously in those days and shared their ideas with one another creating a creative greenhouse in a world that was rapidly changing. I longed to have lived in those times, to have met Cassat, Rodin, Ellington, Fitzgerald, Baker, Balwin, well I did finally meet Baldwin and others purely for the joy of intellection upon the arts. This was in the late 1980's and by the mid 2000's I happened to run into a friend of mine from Hampton University who had been living in New York since he graduated in the early 90s. Well, I was surprised to hear him comment that in all of the wonder that is New York he never met anyone who ever really had anything interesting to say about art, literature, architecture, science, fashion or anything... I was so surprised to hear this since it had also been my experience. Well here I am in 2011 attempting the Virtual Salon...

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

GENTLEMEN WHO COOK...

Although cooking is relegated to women in many cultures around the world, in Western Culture the culinary arts have always been dominated by men. In these times gentleman who possess the quality of a refined palette have the most exquisite cooking technology and foods available to them. Given enough time to pull all the resources together for an amazing meal, gentlemen living in the rant and rush of twenty-first century urbanity can find solace exploring their culinary manifest destiny!

On those momentous occasions when I have been invited into the homes of gentlemen who cook I am ever and anon reminded of the immense talent for cooking, presentation and hospitality that we men possess but so seldom share with our brothers. Over the years many have commented that the art of fine dining and entertainment have died, that the genre of which we are so gastronomically deficient, “The Dinner Party” is an all but forgotten art…

Well gentlemen… though I must admit that there are far too few fabulous dinner parties being given these days I will add that what these venues may lack in frequency they more than compensate as an overall social and culinary experience; for we all agree that great food and interesting company make for divine conversation… Even if reduced to mere grunts and groans, belches and gulps… when a man enjoys the food set before him he will have something to say…

As we men enter our forties, fifties and up having more leisure time to explore our culinary interests and expand our skills I do encourage us to devote greater attention to the fine art of, “The Dinner Party” as a happy alternative to the clubs and other public venues that might capture our lust for wholesome entertainment… So this article was written to encourage greater proficiency in the art of “The Dinner Party” achieved only through experimentation… I must admit a selfish agenda submerged therein for I shall be expecting many new invitations to be forthcoming… But without question this article was devised to pay homage to the fine and impeccable art of gentlemen who cook…