I received this email this morning from Sam Sifton, food editor of The New York Times, in his daily cooking newsletter:
“It is a somber day in New York City, in Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Penn., all across the nation, everywhere touched by the attacks of 18 years ago. I can’t help but recall, each time, how blue the sky was that day and how tightly I held my week-old child in horror at what I’d done, bringing life into this world gone mad.
I cooked later that day and served what I’d made to my family. That act sustained me and sustains me still — this vain hope that if only we make food for one another and share it with open hearts we can push forward together in understanding, and together maybe make the world a better place. I don’t know if that works. I believe it does. So I’ll continue to do it, seeking grace in the meals, in the work of making them.”
18 years since 9/11. I remember that day so well, as it was my second day on a Department of Defense consulting project at Ft. Belvoir, just outside DC…and about 20 miles from the Pentagon. Given I was working on a defense base, they quickly closed it down for the day, and I drove by the Pentagon on the way home. I’ll never forget that smell or the feeling of vulnerability as I watched smoke billowing from our military’s headquarters.
When I finally got to my small studio apartment, I remember crouching in front of my TV alone, nervously eating what was likely a microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner directly out of the plastic container (pretty standard for that time in my life, really). I mean, there would certainly be more attacks, right? It really felt like a hijacked plane would crash into another national monument at any minute.
In reading the quote above, it makes me think of how much more comforted I would have been had I surrounded myself with friends, family, and a home-cooked meal that night. As Sam said, meals bring us together and allow us to open our hearts rather than live in fear. Good for you, Sam, for using such a terrible event to drive you to create such amazing food and inspire others to do the same.