Salt of The earth

I have used this saying for years, but not until recently did I fully understand its meaning. As a chef you would think I could very easily connect the dots.
"If someone is salt of the earth they provide flavor, they have a natural life style, they generally just add life to those they come into contact with." ( I think the key is those they come into contact with.)

When they are around others their presence is like salt on food, it would be bland without it!. I could extend it further and say, they value people so much that they preserve and cherish relationships, and their role in society.

I was reminded this week of the rabbi I knew when I was in The South African Army. He was the rabbi and butcher in Middleburg South Africa. Every Friday morning he would bring me the meat for the following week, grab a huge pot, turn it upside down, and ask me to join him in conversation.
Not a heavy religious conversation ,but a Salt of the earth conversation. The conversations focused on: Where we come from and how we got here and who did all of this, but most importantly the one we spoke about often was , "What am I to do while I am here?". The Answer to that really answers every other question. And the answer is ()()()()()()()()()( ....(thats a drum roll)
Be salt of the earth! to the people living on the earth...... Thanks Rabbi!!!!

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But Clive.....

I have had a few emails and calls today in response to yesterdays posting......All of them included the words "But Clive" in their conversations. "But Clive" you are a Great Chef!! I appreciate all those encouraging words yet let me quote from the book (OK manuscript) "Cooking with Clive" (I kiss better than I cook... ...kidding)

The goal of cooking isn’t to produce picture-perfect dishes. You may find perfection in the photography of most cookbooks, but most of these images had to be touched up to hide imperfections. Life, though, isn’t like that. In my life and in my cooking, nothing is ever perfect. I want to pursue excellence, but I never want to lose sight of the ultimate objective of doing everything I do to show love to others. An obsession with perfection gets in the way of love. When we fail to prepare well, we get frazzled, but good preparation allows us to keep things in perspective and focus on our top priorties of love and creativity.

That is exactly what I want this blog and the book to do. .........Motivate its readers who love and want to cook to "Strive for excellence, doing your best." And your best is plenty good enough"