In the world of TV commercials, they call it "the bite and smile," and in my day as a commercial actress, I learned to be masterful at it.
As the camera zooms in, the actor eyes the food in rapt anticipation, sniffing the air and sighing at its delectable aroma. Then she reverently picks it up and takes a slow, sumptuous mouthful. Her eyes close as her tastebuds take in the full effect of the heavenly cuisine. Only then does she slowly chew and swallow, before flashing to the camera a satisfied smile that drips with delight.
Sure the food on the commercial set is intensely prepped and perfected (so much so, in fact, that the slang name for it, befittingly, is the "hero"), and certainly the actors are skilled in the dramatization of these simple moments of enjoying food. Still, the "bite and smile" is a great example of how food is meant to be eaten. Our food is supposed to be appreciated, and eating intended to be a delightful experience.
Imagine how much more satisfied we would be if we took in our food with greater awareness of our senses—smelling the food’s aroma, noticing how it is arranged on our plate, feeling its texture as we put a forkful into our mouth and again as we swallow it down. This would make the experience of dining much more satisfying and pleasurable, and also bring us more fully into the moment.
The perfect strawberry
About ten years ago, I attended a week-long retreat with Tich Nhat Hahn. We spent the week deliberately eating in silence, lingering over each bite as I described above. A few weeks after returning home from the retreat, I accompanied my then-husband to a corporate banquet for his work. Long tables were draped in thick white tablecloths. A buffet stood in the center of the room including metal platters filled with grilled vegetables and creamy Fettucini Alfredo. A chef wearing a tall white paper hat carved thin slices of roast beef. Steam rose out of a basket filled with warm rolls while an iceberg salad with carrot shavings stood nearby. The other attendees greeted each other, shaking hands between moments of filling their plates, and hurried back to their tables. Seated, they shoved forkfuls into their mouths amidst small talk and laugher.
On one side of the room was the dessert table, oveflowing with all manner of gooey, creamy, and suger-laden delights—the kind I’d drooled over so many times in the past. But this time, my eye was drawn to a large platter in the center of the table, laden with fresh fruit. Among squares of pineapple and melon sat a gorgeous, ripe strawberry. I’d spotted it from across the banquet hall and I knew from my experience at the retreat that one strawberry could satisfy my appetite.
So I put the strawberry right in the middle of a dessert plate and headed to my table. In the past, I might have felt silly or made up some excuse to the others for my "odd" preference. But this time, I just filled my senses entirely with the sight and scent of the bright red treat. If any of the others noticed me while I took each Soul-Full bite and genuinely smiled, I never noticed them. Gone were the days of performing for the camera. At that moment, everything else fell away and I was in heaven.
The above is an excerpt from Maureen’s book, Soul-Full Eating: A (delicious!) Path to Higher Consciousness. For more info, www.soul-fulleating.com
I love food too Maureen