Diabetes Recipes:
Bouillabaisse
Philosophical Fish Soup
Endive Salad
A Perfectly Baked Apple
All About Philosophy And Fish Soup
I sat at my friend’s birthday dinner sandwiched between a non-compliant overweight type 2 who emptied the breadbasket twice, dipping voraciously into the fabulous fish soup, and, an emotionally overindulged self-proclaimed type “1 ½” who handed the waiter a neatly typed list of his food allergies. Oh boy! I was trapped and It was torturous. The torture was that any attempt on my part to talk rationally about diabetes and healthy lifestyle had no place here. I sat speechless.
On the way home I thought about the incident and how frustrating it was to witness 2 people endangering their bodily health by closing their minds. It was all about philosophy. I declared my own brand of philosophy regarding diabetes some 25-30 years ago, when I accepted diabetes as an uninvited visitor to treat as friend, with respect and consideration at all times, or suffer dire consequences.
Being diagnosed with diabetes is something that changes one’s life by virtue of the fact that it makes demands on lifestyle. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 5-year-old child with type 1 or a 75 year old senior with type 2. Diabetes has rules. But people have the power to make choices. It can be a simple thing, after all, it’s only you and your diabetes. It’s only you and that Snickers bar on the table. Eat it or not. For some, it’s an easy decision. For others, not so. There’s no spotlight. There’s no blazing scarlet letter “D” to wear. When faced with whether or not to adhere to the rules, how to follow them and to what degree, we sway into the philosophy and the metaphysics of diabetes.
According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, Metaphysics is that branch of philosophy which treats of first principles. It is the science of universal order, seeking to explain the nature of being and reality. To take great liberty from the scholarly and academic bent of such profound philosophy, we can conjure up an interpretation of diabetes being quite metaphysical with its strong declaration of insulin imbalance and continuing trials and exploration to achieve order and harmony in the universe of blood glucose balance, that effects the whole, the universe of the body.
Then, of course, there is the psychological wavelength of diabetes. How do you live a life and carry diabetes in your pocket everywhere you go. You become emotionally attached, and sometimes the emotions fly. You hate it. You want a vacation from it. You want it to disappear. You want to really understand it. You question why it has attached itself to you. You want to beat it. You want to cure it. You want to show everyone you can do anything they can do, despite diabetes. You dream of eating a candy bar because you feel like eating a candy bar. You become obsessed with learning all there is to know about it. You separate yourself from it and ignore it. You deny it. You denounce it. You feel sorry for it. You become friends with it. Your regard it as your worst enemy. You remember what Don Michael Corleone said to Frank Pentangeli (Frankie 5 Angels) in The Godfather, Part 2, Scene 10, “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer”. And, somehow, we learn to live with it. So, as we were saying at the top of the page at my friend’s birthday party they served a wonderful fish soup.
In The Cyber Kitchen
We hear the terms used loosely, almost interchangeably Bouillabaisse, Cioppino, Zuupe Di Pesce. The names may sound complex, but philosophically they all come down to simple peasant fish soup, based on fresh fish, vegetables, spices and broth. They’re all good. They’re all easy. And they’ll warm us from winter’s frost. Let’s have some fun and try a few recipes. You be the judge or invite some friends in for a tasting panel. Make a simple beautiful endive salad. Find some great bread for dipping, let your oven-bake some apples while you’re enjoying a fabulous meal.