Barbecues And Soccer

It’s a hot summer day, the beers are cold, and the dinosaur-sized steaks are sizzling in the barbeque. How the smell of that raw meat grilling makes the mouth water. All the while the game is on. The stakes are high and there is an utterly palpable sense of uncertainty in the air. We need a win and the fact that my father, brothers, uncles, and cousins are here makes the excitement and tension even more palpable, almost unbearable so. Every little move that seems to have the potential for glory or doom makes us jump and scream uncontrollably. When the oversized steak is ready my dad puts it on a cutting-board and starts taking it apart with his heavy knife. He then comes around with little pieces on the cutting-board towards the TV and asks anxiously what he’s missed. We take little pieces with our hands and pass the cutting board around so that everyone gets some. Biting hard into that juicy meat only fuels the desire to win even more. With our eyes peeled at the game as we anxiously chew through more and more meat. With less and less time on the clock tensions grow tighter and the need to score is ever more urgent. With only a few minutes to spare our center forward smashes one in from a ridiculous distance and the room is filled with screams of euphoria and embraces. The final whistle is blown and suddenly we are sitting down relaxed on the couch. We now realized that through all that commotion we just finished something that looked like it came from a prehistoric beast. We are now aware of how full we are and slouch lazily on the couch as we continue to enjoy each other’s company.

            This relates to the articles in the importance of the experience of eating (in particular the social experience) as being a fundamental part of how we view food. In this scenario in particular the steak is part of the emotions experienced from watching the game and from male bonding with family members. This whole experience makes the steak so much more than just food. It is an experience.