The Beautiful Game

Well, hello there...
       If you don't know me very well, one of the first things you should know is that I love football; or as we call it in America, soccer. I'm a big Liverpool supporter (and yes, still a Torres fan..) with an equally large hatred for all that is Chelsea FC..but that is not what this blog is about. Sure, you may find the occasional soccer reference soaring over your head like a glorious cross of my friend Dirk Kuyt (see?! it already started..) but I assure you, this blog is about food. Good food. Food you want to eat. Gourmet food. Peasant food. Street food and home cooked meals. Like the beautiful game, food exists as a relaxing yet intensely exciting endeavor.
       Finesse on the football pitch is creativity, grace, skill, strength, agility and balance all combined into one. From this union amongst teammates comes passes, flicks, crosses, runs, and eventually..goals. I want to use my ingredients with finesse. I want them to be beautifully and wholly simple individually as well as a whole. I want them to work with each other to eventually culminate into a meal, a dish...in short, food.
Finishing in football is the ability to score that precious goal under pressure; the ability to fool the eleven other players desperately trying to stop you. I want ingredients that can use the finesse, the creativity, the skill to find that elusive goal; that elusive final dish that hits the back of the net (or mouth) and makes you stand up with eyes widening as you throw your arms up and turn to your best mates in pure celebration  of your favorite team.
       There are many types of players, positions, formations, and styles of play in football. As I go on from here, I don't want to have a focus on only a few ingredients, styles, or methods of cooking. If all goes to plan, I won't get lazy and just make baked goods. I might be all over the place so be sure to search with the labels.
       In 1977, the year he retired from professional football, Edison Arantes do Nascimento (known throughout the world as Pelé) wrote an autobiography dedicated to "all those who make the game beautiful." In his native portuguese... jogo bonito. Although the marketing team has commercialized (some would argue, cheapened..), the phrase is the best description of the game that I have discovered.                
      And this is what football is all about...love. It is subtle; maybe slightly hidden. What outsiders see as imperfections, we consider our favorite parts. But when you discover it, you fall in love with this beautiful game. And with this blog I hope to help you discover food, its wonderful subtlety and fall in love with one more jogo bonito.