S Is for Songs of Sustenance

Food is like music. It brings people together. It conjures from the elements, recalling lost conversations, a ripe exploding strawberry, lightning kissing mountains into sparks and fire. In a world that sometimes moves too fast, I am hungry for both food and music, the kind that nourishes, satisfies, and connects.

Today I was reminded of this deep soul hunger. I was sitting in a noontime gathering, Counterpulse's "Eat In" to mark Mardi Gras with food, music and memory. I didn't know just how hungry I was for the smell of homecooked food, for laughter and music, until the two hit me in waves.

"Gumbo, adobo, lumpia," sang the women. Pancit, grandma's jamabalaya, empanadas, menudo, kimchee, and johnnycakes, they sang out. Invoking the names of beloved foods, they invoked beloved ancestors. The clang of spoons on steel bowls, shakers shivering, and voices sweet and strong as good honey were just right.

Food, like songs, can help remind us of who we are, the true things that sustain us. Who am I to resist a taste?

A Food-Song Buffet: Couldn't resist sharing these, ranging from powerful to silly. Other recommendations?

My poet-sister Aimee Suzara is a collaborator w/Deepwaters Dance in the powerful work, " Our Daily Bread." The premiere on April 14-24 is not-to-miss!
'From California Gurls, to Filipino Foods'
Dancing Salmon Home-Promo on salmon, the Winnemum people, and survival
200+ Pop Songs About Food