Pass the salt!

As much as I consider myself Japanese at heart, I have a small confession to make....their food is not actually my favorite.  It's shocking, isn't it?  For those of you who know me, you know that I would rather be in Japan than anywhere!  But I'd really rather be eating food from India, Malaysia, Thailand, Costa Rica.  I think it's because the Japanese who are traditional cooks/chefs like to say that they have four true spices in their pantries: sugar, salt, soy sauce, mirin (a rice wine).  Yes, they make some mighty fine foods with this - the better cooks even know how to develop beautiful layers of flavor, naturally....but I really do like my food to get up and dance its way across my tongue and down my throat! There is very little dancing in Japan. Having said this, though, one of my all time favorite cooks on the planet is my sweet friend Yumiko Nagatomi. She can make anything taste amazing! Every time we go to Japan, the thing I look forward to the most is the party that we will have at Nagatomi-sensei's house.

I remember having a "potluck" (def: covered dish dinner - for those of you who are not Southern) at my own house one year for Easter.  There was a Japanese family there, and she brought a dish that looked really tasty.  All of the American wives in the room tried this sweet lady's food...and it was terribly bland.  (Unfortunately, I have used the word terribly on purpose.) I remember walking into the kitchen where one of my girlfriends was standing and saying, "Maybe we should get her some salt, at least."  The dish was that lacking.  The same dish in my friend Nagatomi-sensei's hands would have been spectacular!  I would have gone back for more and more! What is the difference?  How can the same ingredients be so different from one cook to another?  The difference is in knowing how to interpret the flavors and being able to transfer that knowledge into sustenance for the rest of us. 

Matthew 5:13 tells us that "[We] are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men."  I have never known salt to loses its "saltiness" so I have to wonder exactly what this means.  My mother-in-law has things in the pantry that may have been here for 20 years or more.  The spices may have dulled, but they still have their flavor. The salt is still salty.  So what is this verse saying?  I think that, like Nagatomi-sensei, the difference is in knowing how to interpret the circumstances of the earth through our own understanding of how God is working and then being able to transfer that to the people around us.  The wisdom that we gain in the Word of God and through the Spirit of God is not meant to be hoarded in our own hearts.  We are meant to share the understanding that we acquire in a way that adds flavor and depth to the people around us.  We are the spices in the pantry! It is our job to see the dull, flavorless (aka hopeless) souls that surround us and layer the rich wisdom of God into the flavor of their hearts. We are not meant to sit by and muse: "Should we tell her what the salt box at the store looks like?"  No.  We are meant to pour out the salt that we have!  Otherwise, we ourselves are flat and flavorless!

I can't think of any other circumstances where the more we give, the more we receive except in the principles of God. He has ordained His Kingdom to be unlike any on earth.  We are supposed to be the "culture" with the most flavor!  Our "food" is supposed to taste the best! The Graham household has resigned to be the spiciest household you will encounter!  And if you ever come to dinner and the food isn't up to par, please don't hesitate to say, "Pass the salt!"

On the menu today:  Much to my children's dismay...I intend to make pumpkin soup.  I've roasted the pumpkin with olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper and will blend it with coconut milk, a little cream and a few pinches of cayenne and curry. Then I'll serve it with toppings like toasted pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and pecans, as well as toasted coconut, raisins and perhaps a chopped banana. You can decide for yourself what you'd like to put on top!