I’ve been an aficionado of the original Japanese show since it first aired in the US. I still watch it in syndication on Peacock. It is my nighttime soporific. Just as some folks read a while before falling asleep, I watch the Iron Chef episodes of yesteryear. I know; it’s weird.
The show opens with a quote from Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a French lawyer and epicurean during the Reign of Terror who fled France for sanctuary in America. The quote is, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”
I watched Iron Chef last night, and this quote gave me a chuckle. I would have told him that I eat Tacos, Enchiladas, Tostadas, and Queso. He would have responded that I was a descendant or ally of people from Mexico, I think. Tonight, I prepared this meal thinking of him.
This meal, like most, was a joint effort. Susan prepared the beans and queso. I did the picadillo and set the table. We were stuffed.
Later, I considered what Brillat-Savarin might have said if I had responded, “Cats and Dogs.” Perhaps he would have answered, “You are a descendant of JD Vance’s bigotry.”