Arnon Grunberg

Pleasures

Cookie monster

A friend alerted me to this article by Jeff Gordinier in the Times:

"Try this: place a forkful of food in your mouth. It doesn’t matter what the food is, but make it something you love — let’s say it’s that first nibble from three hot, fragrant, perfectly cooked ravioli.
Now comes the hard part. Put the fork down. This could be a lot more challenging than you imagine, because that first bite was very good and another immediately beckons. You’re hungry.
Today’s experiment in eating, however, involves becoming aware of that reflexive urge to plow through your meal like Cookie Monster on a shortbread bender. Resist it. Leave the fork on the table. Chew slowly. Stop talking. Tune in to the texture of the pasta, the flavor of the cheese, the bright color of the sauce in the bowl, the aroma of the rising steam.
Continue this way throughout the course of a meal, and you’ll experience the third-eye-opening pleasures and frustrations of a practice known as mindful eating."

I’m all in favor of mindful eating, but it should be practiced in seclusion.

Or people will force me to say: “I don’t mind your habit of mindful eating at all, actually I admire the way you eat, but please keep in mind that I have to leave at 11.”