The Next Course

Father spoke little, and never explained much, but he loved to eat and talk of food. He appreciated taste more than touch. I think that he felt more secure in the texture of food in the mouth than in the texture of words dispelled from his lips.  Father loved to talk about eating, but never talked while eating, chomping on pan-fried chicken gizzards and skewered red meats. He preferred eating with chopsticks.  Next best was the fork. Hands were the least favorable. Wiping the filth only does so much.

Now, I guess the smell or color of what was left behind alters the taste of the next course.

I am a good offshoot, a strong bud that grew into a woman with her own tastes.  When eating in public, I prefer foods with limited crumb capacity, held by only two fingers and eaten within two bites.  Between you and me, big sandwiches are my favorite. I love the weight and feel of food in my hands.  I am very particular on bread density and crustiness…baguettes, of course.  I like the chew of the bread and the biting action and sound…hromp, nam, nam, nam.

I am in love with a fella with a great, gray beard.  He prefers the softness of a Portuguese roll. He eats with his hands and crumbs fall in the gray hairs.  He shares his salmon dinner with his old Chihuahua…pinching a morsel from his mouth and dropping it into the little dog’s mouth. I look at him with my look of ‘what?’ He explains. But, he’s my friend  as his fingers, wet with fish and saliva, pick off another bit.

Jen Huh is an artist, designer, and poet, whose practice focuses on concept development and blending humor, text/typography, fine arts and product design. Jen has earned an MFA Degree in Creative Writing with a concentration in Poetry from the New School and has worked as a teaching artist in the New York public schools. She currently works as the Assistant Director of Advising, guiding students in the BFA programs at Parsons The New School for Design.