You Are What You Eat, and Other Reasons I’m Giving Up Deep Frying

Trash can nachos. Need I say more?

They say that if you learn to cook for yourself, you’ll eat better. I guess I see the logic there: fewer preservatives, fewer chemicals, fresher ingredients. For people whose version of not cooking for themselves involves a lot of drive thrus, absolutely. And most people, when they learn to cook, do not go in for anything too fancy. Grill a piece of chicken, boil some pasta, steam a vegetable. Healthier than a Big Mac, a Hot Pocket, even a Lean Cuisine.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we all stopped there? If we only learned to grill our chicken and not make a cream sauce for the top? If the pasta weren’t served alfredo, the vegetables coated in cheese? At least if it’s real cheese it’s better than processed cheese food. But then, for some of us, this culinary acquisition keeps going. We learn to bake. We learn to make candy. We learn to deep fry.

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He Calls it FOOD: A LOVE STORY. We Call it HOT DOG! DADDY!

Every time I read a chapter, my kids demanded hot dogs for dinner.

By his own admission, Jim Gaffigan has an unhealthy relationship with food. I don’t just mean that his eating habits are unhealthy. Well–look at the cover of his book. Food is less a vital element of Jim’s survival. It’s more of a lover. This isn’t all that uncommon, especially among Americans–there are some statistics somewhere in the book about how many Americans consider their relationship with food unhealthy, though since it’s a book by a comedian I automatically assume they’re made up. Some people’s relationship with food is on-again, off-again. Some are ashamed of their partner and keep the relationship behind closed doors. Jim has a less typical problem with his paramour. He’s clearly completely in love, head over heels, even willing to forgive glaring character faults (e.g. vegetables) but he just can’t admit it. Not fully, anyway.