Thursday, October 10th, 2008
I recently visited an older gentleman friend of mine, who also just happens to be a fellow poet and spoken word artist from PA, a neighboring state to my NJ. He was in the hospital, so I made a trip over to hang out with him, and we always have a great time laughing, telling jokes, reading each others work, and talking about how much we like to eat. This time he added politics to the menu of our growing friendship. That is like me sucking on a sour lemon sometimes. I have and always vote, and am trying to understand what is going on out there in the land of donkey's and elephant's, but it can be confusing, oh, back to the purpose...
Well some how the conversation switched back to food, and he put a whole new twist on one of my favorite condiments by telling me that he refuses lemons with any meals when he is eating out at any restaurant. Why? Like many others I hear stories about, getting ill from germs. Either by someone not washing their hands, or fields flooding with waste filled water, or bacteria contamination. Yes, contamination of all kinds, but the worst, hands that have handled money, touched the hair, face, mouth, others, menus, and who knows what during the course of their shifts.
Okay, I thought as he continued to condemn one of my favorite flavor punchers for tea, broccoli, chicken, salad, or any other bland food that is set down in front of me while I am out for a casual meal in town, or on the road. As soon as this conversation had simmered in my head for a day I decided to google uses for lemons and see if I was right about using it to sanitize my own hands in some cases along the foodie avenue. They have many useful purposes and should not be so discarded by the public, and I have even read that a fellow discovered by adding a touch of lemon to something you’re eating; it will help pair fruity or citrus under-toned wines, possibly whites with your meal.
Hello my friend, they are lemons! Beautiful mellow yellow and are used in cleaning products for sanitizing. You can squeeze one on your hands if you cannot get to a sink with soap and water if you feel you might starve or the meal will get cold before you can enjoy it right away. They are green and clean!
Face it, Anthony Bourdain already wrote about how wait staff and kitchen workers touch everything, like your glass edges, straws, the plate your food is on, not to mention any other things that should keep you out of fast food chain places. You might be lucky one of them washes their hands as often as we are taught in those safety and sanitation classes we attend. So, I said to my friend, get over it! Just pucker up in another of my favorite ways, and throw it out to your loving chef and friend.