Valentine's Day is next weekend and if you are a truly romantic person you most likely already have the what's and where's planned for your one and only sweetheart. If you are one of those people who likes to wait, or just doesn't put much thought into the whole ordeal, then you still need to pay some heed and get on the ball. Flowers are great, but don't have staying power. Diamonds are beautiful, but you know eventually they can lose their luster, significance or, as often happens, can even get lost themselves. Dinner, now that's an idea. When you take your loved one out, or stay in, for dinner, you are creating an experience, a memory. Staring into each other's eyes over a delightful meal creates a moment shared in time that can't be undone. Food brings people together. It's that necessary adhesive that can all at once soothe, enliven, transform, and translate all of life's importance with a single taste. If you are still with me on this and agree, here's my argument why seafood should be on your Valentine's Day menu.
Seafood represents life and vitality. The ocean is the source of all life and seafood embodies this idea of magnitude and mystery on the plate like nothing on hooves can. Instead of the heavy thud meat and poultry leave in your bellies, ocean fare will not weigh the rest of your night down. Your romantic trysts will not get stuck in the mud with seafood, leaving you free to experience the moments beyond the plate.
You can eat seafood in the raw, undressed and unburdened of the heaviness of preparation. Open up an oyster and experience the excitement and pulsation of naked flavor. You can feel the transformation of life and taste how slippery such great moments can be. Raw fish can dress a plate so seductively that food becomes a show, its contorting essence encapsulating the tension between art and function. Food can feed more than just our mouths, particularly seafood. Seafood, especially when eaten crudo, can reveal natural flavors exotic and foreign to our tongues. Some meals are just to get us to the next one and some are events in our lives.
Though healthy for your body, seafood is often seen as an extravagance reserved for special occasions, especially when dining out. So it only makes sense that if you are catering to the heart of your loved one, you want to go all out for them. Dining on seafood will make you both feel luxurious and special.
