It is an interesting question – what would your last meal be, how many courses would it be, who would it be with and where? It seems to be a question many people ask of chefs hoping to get a glimpse into the complicated yet creative mind of a certified gourmand. When people ask me I think they expect some 10 course tasting menu from some 3 star restaurant in France, Italy or Spain. Same goes for the superstar chefs that we hear about and see on television. My best friend recently gave me a book specifically about this topic and it was very interesting to read the answers. As expected there were some chefs that talked about having kilos of caviar, white truffles, abalone, and $200 per pound Spanish ham. These chefs wanted the most hard to find and expensive ingredients in the world. They felt that if and when they go they should go out with a bang, one that has no limits on price or anything for that matter!
However, many if not most of the chefs chose simple, down to earth, comforting foods eaten amongst the one’s they love – family and friends. Foods like homemade crusty bread with good butter, Mom’s fried chicken, Grandma’s ravioli pasta, scrambled eggs, or a good roasted chicken with French fries. You see, for many a chef just like the rest of us, eating good does not always lie in the art of the expensive or making it pretentious or unreachable. Instead, it focuses on making the use of good simple ingredients taste great. Furthermore, through those simple ingredients, we create a sense of happiness from a distant past for the eater (friends and family). Tony Bourdain, chef and author of many best-selling books says it best when he states “when we think of what we would eat last, we (chefs) revert from the loud, type A, obsessive, dominating control freaks we’ve become back to the children we once were.” This in my mind apples both to chefs and the one’s we love to cook for.
Interestingly enough the night my best friend gave me the book, I made Frito pie. I did know that this is one of their favorite meals but I would assume that it also possibly aroused simpler times, childhood maybe, when things seemed easier and fun. It’s funny how a meal, even for a moment, can warm your heart and make you feel happy and content. I guess this is the reason why so many chefs choose such a simple meal if it were to be their last. I mean if it is time to go, I too would want to feel happy, whole, satisfied and surrounded by the ones I love.
Instead of providing my Frito pie recipe (as I am sure you all can make it), I would like you to make your favorite meal. Make one that summons those intangible memories of childhood. Whether it is a soup, a hand me down recipe, a great pasta dish, or Frito pie, make the effort to recreate those memories for yourself, your friends, children, and loved one. Trust me; they will thank you for it in many ways!
