It is time-honored framing. This without that. An object of desire dangled; a problem proffered; a proprietary solution presented. What goes unspoken, however: “This” is never actually… “this.” Who can honestly say they have eaten a baked or air-fried anything that was as gloriously, shatteringly crisp as it would be if it emerged from a vat of hot oil, still sizzling on its way to a resting rack, every molecule of moisture on its crystalline surface squealing? Without “that,” the thing in question simply cannot be “this.” It can be delicious, wonderful even, worth making and making again. But it cannot be “this.”
Want to make carnitas without all the fat? Bolognese without the wait? Why? Why when there are so many pork dishes that are not confited, so many Italian pasta sauces that don’t require hours of simmering. If “that” is to be avoided for whatever reason, it feels like a failure of the imagination to stay stuck on “this.” We, editors and readers alike, are all drinking the same very contemporary, very American flavor of Kool-Aid, keeping up the charade that we can have everything we want and nothing that we don’t, even as our lives feel harder and tighter. Perhaps our time could be more productively and pleasurably spent imagining that another world is possible.
Why not just ask a different question? Like: What if crispy wasn’t the only thing that chicken wings could be? What if they wanted to be… wet?
Posted 2 days ago.
