Page 17 - Flathead Beacon // 2.10.16

The
Food Issue
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG LINDSTROM
ood, to the extent that we all eat it, is society’s great uni er. We’ve been breaking bread and chowing down together
for eons because, let’s face i
through time, the distressed shelves buckling under a familiar array of jarred goods.
Food sends us cartwheeling through time. It transports us to grandpa’s La-Z-Boy after a
holy vessel. Cutlery is whetted with such care and precision that it renders garlic slices to ghost-like transparency. Aprons bear stain-fes- tooned patterns whose orets read like the best
t– food is the most common ground we share in
ping mac-and-cheese. Food empowers us to revisit
lines
creamy,
coma-in
obliviou
shaping our identities. From food we can divine the musky depths of chase in the present.
Food evokes complex emotions in part because of its simple utility – it keeps us alive – but also because of the avorful force with which it girds our senses. It is baked into our nostalgia in such a way that a wayward smell drifting from a baker’s storefront can whisk us away to a distant memory.
a root cellar, the glassy cool of a jam jar pressed against our hand, or the tactile appeal of a win- ter squash’s armadillo skin.
The rattle of a spice cabinet. The snap of a cupboard door. The sizzle of a skillet.
Because of food, recipes are scribbled on scraps of paper so sauce-spattered and sacro- sanct they plat a family’s crest. Cast iron cook-
Here again is the Flathead Beacon’s annual “Food Issue,” showcasing the region’s marquee meals, sumptuous spirits, revered restaurants, best breakfasts, and more.
Let this serve as a snapshot of Northwest Montana’s o erings, a quickening to whet your appetite, arouse your senses and open your eyes to the Flathead’s rst-rate fetes.
Bon appetit! ❧
It’s because of food’s indelible inscriptions
that a walk-in pantry can serve as a portal ware is treated with the same tenderness as a
s to the r
elish drippi
ngs
on our ne
cktie.
ducing hel
of gran
FOOD INTR
this global kitchen. a bustling al fresco market from a long-ago of our collective consciousness.
Even before there were melting-pot meta- European backpacking trip, or sidle up to a hot And while the Flathead Valley might not be phors and Michelin stars, before haute cuisine dog stand at Union Station, noshing with joyous the provenance of your own personal food jour- and Paula Deen, before South Beach fads and abandon while dashing for the 5 o’clock train, ney, it o ers a surfeit of sensory experiences to
fast-food ads, food was feeding our souls a
nd
take
you back in time and heighten your pur-
dma’s
of a love letter.
No matter our faculty for avor, food is part
O
Tim Good shows a roasted leg of lamb with cucumber mint chutney on sweet potato chips at Haskill Station in White sh.
FEBRUARY 10, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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