Episode 5: Food and Family Life

Doug and Caren have a wide-ranging discussion on the place of food in family and community life. This episode sets the stage for more focused food and cooking episodes to come. Does our (often necessary) focus on efficiency in the kitchen steal the joys of shared meals? What is the theological significance of a common table? How can cooking and eating together strengthen the shared rituals that bind our families and communities together? A passage from Tolkien’s The Hobbit provides our starting point.

Show notes:

Help us settle things by taking our survey: Is Little Caesar’s pizza awful?

I’ve settled on the legendary baker Peter Reinhart’s recipe for “Neo-Neopolitan” dough as my go-to. The 75% hydration gives it a nice consistency. I measure the water to just over 17 oz., then add a fair dose of honey, then finish with water up to 18. Italian “00” flour makes a difference. The dough has a silky feel and the mix of crisp and chew in the pizza is ideal.

If you don’t have a digital kitchen scale, buy one soon. You’ll thank me. I’ve had great results from this one, readable even when covered in flour for these middle-aged eyes.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit (second breakfast, anyone?)

Recipe for sugar pie coming shortly (Caren will pick).

Homer, The Odyssey (Fagles translation). Look, for example, at the welcoming of the embassy to Achilles in Book IX.

Indiana’s own Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse Five is always a good choice.