At the outset, I want to make it plain: When I say, “I heart...xyz” it’s an expression of the kind of adoration that stems from affection and appreciation. It’s not about lust, or even romantic love. It’s really about admiration, I guess. Personal heroes. Perceived kindred spirits. Fantasy dinner guests. You get the idea.
That said, I heart Chef Marcus Samuelsson. In addition to being an award-winning chef, Samuelsson is a cookbook author, tv personality and ambassador for the US Fund for UNICEF. And even when I call him “my boyfriend,” what I mean is, “I heart him!”
Photo from Google Images
He is physically beautiful. Oh, yes sir, he is.
Photo from blackpreneur.net
And he’s clearly talented in his field. Sez Wikipedia: "At 24, Marcus became executive chef of Aquavit, and soon after that became the youngest ever to receive a three-star restaurant review from The New York Times." From Samuelsson’s website:
Samuelsson was honored with the James Beard Foundation Award for ‘Rising Star Chef’ in 1999 and ‘Best Chef, New York’ in 2003. He was also celebrated as one of “The Great Chefs of America” by The Culinary Institute of America.
Born in Ethiopia, adopted, and raised in Sweden, Samuelsson manages (among other projects) a Japanese restaurant in NYC. You know how I appreciate a straddler of worlds.
He’s married to a sista, the gorgeous, Ethiopian-born, Holland-raised model Maya Haile.
Photos from Maya Haile’s Facebook fan page
I want to dress in couture with her, and travel by private jet together.
But this isn’t about any of that.
It’s about the human connection to food. The complex symbolism of food. Food as identity-marker. Our man Marcus gets it.
Submitted as evidence: He is the host of a three-episode PBS special called The Meaning of Food. First aired in 2004, the show is available today via insta-watch on Netflix. And it is just so beautiful.
Sez PBS: “The Meaning of Food is an exploration of culture through food. What we consume, how we acquire it, who prepares it, who’s at the table, and who eats first is a form of communication that is rich with meaning.” The show dashes from point to point on the globe, introducing interesting people and their food-ways.
The first episode is “Food and Life”. Want a taste?
- We learn that death row inmates are allowed to request specifically what they’d like for their last meal, and we visit with a man who for 11 years cooked the last meal for prisoners on death row. (Deal with that. The guy has a hard time talking about it, years later even. He had nightmares when it was his job.) In his case, anyway, the state tried as best they could to provide the requested meal. We see some of the menus. Sez the cook: “What if that was your son? Your brother? Would you rather he got a good last meal? ...Someone you loved... How would you feel then?”
- From the perspective of a Muslim-American HS senior, we learn about fasting during Ramadan, in the Muslim faith, and the feasting of Eid (pronounced “Eed,” which is hard for me to remember, for some reason).
- We hear from a Holocaust survivor about “cooking with the mouth”. That’s what you do when you have nothing to eat, or what female prisoners at a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia did, telling each other their favorite recipes in detail in stolen moments, nights in the bunks. (There’s a cookbook of these recipes, if you think you can stand it. Many of the recipes are convoluted or incomplete. The original manuscript was hand-sewn.)
Seriously, if you think you can get through this show without weeping, you’re a badder MF than I am.
That’s what I call good television.
And that’s just Episode One!
There’s also “Food and Culture”, where we talk about heritage and food and identity. Sez my boyfriend:
“Where are you from?” It’s not an easy answer...everywhere I’ve been, everything I am, is reflected in my feelings about food: what I like, what I cook, what I consider good to eat. Food is a form of communication, rich with meaning...what you eat tells me, better than a photograph, who you are.
And, finally, “Food and Family”: “Gathering food, preparing it, eating it together - through these small daily rituals, bonds are created and families defined.” - Marcus Samuelsson
All delicious. So maybe this post should be titled, “I Heart The Meaning of Food”. That is not an untrue statement. The show is deep.
But I love that Marcus Samuelsson hosted it.
Samuelsson is also the featured chef on an episode of another favorite tv show, After Hours with Daniel Boulud. Chef Boulud jokes about Samuelsson: “He gets high when he eats Ethiopian food.” I like the idea of getting high off of a meal.
Plus, when I read this on Wikipedia...
On November 24, 2009, Samuelsson served as guest chef for the first state dinner of the Barack Obama presidency. [!] The dinner, in honor of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the country of India, was served on the South Lawn and largely vegetarian. Samuelsson reportedly sought to combine sustainable and regional foods which reflect the best in American cuisine yet evoke the flavors of India. Harvesting fresh vegetables and herbs from the White House Garden, Samuelsson’s menu included red lentil soup, roasted potato dumplings, and green curry prawns.
...I cried out, “He is SO my boyfriend!”
I’m thinking if I became an award-winning author, I could date Marcus Samuelsson. You know, if we weren’t both married and, oh yeah, complete strangers.
Meanwhile, my blog seems the appropriate place to give him my heart.
And the next time I’m in NYC or Chicago, I’ll be giving him my stomach, as well.
His latest book is New American Table, a cookbook of regional American cuisine. Can't wait to check it out.
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