Posted on: Wednesday, January 9, 2002

Food for Thought
Food can be associated with anything

By Wanda A. Adams
Food Editor

For the musically inclined, it is said, all the world is a song cue: Everything they encounter makes them think of a line from a song. It's the same for the culinarily inclined, only in our case, it's food that comes to mind.

This started very early with me. I remember eating nothing but bread and cheese when I was reading "Heidi" at about age 8 or 9. (Only it was Velveeta and Love's white bread then, I cringe to reveal.)

Now, watching an English movie, I often get a craving for a good, strong "cuppa" such as I often enjoyed at bed and breakfasts in England — Earl Gray, with milk. Ta, love.

Reading Dostoyevsky, I have to make pelmeni (Russian ravioli, served with sour cream).

Mention a city I've visited, and instead of scenery or attractions, I'll start thinking of memorable eating experiences: Chicago: Topolobompo and deep-dish pizza. Rhode Island: Italian delis in Providence and coffee "cabinets" in Newport (their term for coffee milk shakes). Mississippi: Corky's barbecue and sorghum on pancakes.

I focus on food even when it's not the point. In a key scene in "Moonstruck" in which Olympia Dukakis is cooking breakfast for Cher, I zeroed in on the dish she was making, and decided I just had to try it. It's a sort of Italian fried-egg sandwich: Cut a hole in a slice of crusty Italian bread, fry it in olive oil or butter, break an egg into the hole and fry it, then top the whole with a slice of roasted tomato (or you can use a dollop of tomato paste). This has become a great favorite at my house, with some minced parsley and a few shreds of fresh Parmesano-Reggiano on top. It's a great way to use up country-style bread that's just over the edge of freshness.

I also was reintroduced to a wicked indulgence in "Four Weddings and a Funeral," when one of the characters fries bread alongside his breakfast bacon. I'd had delicious fried bread at those same bed and breakfasts in England but had forgotten it. (Do not try this at home unless you want arteries as clogged as gutters after a windstorm.)

In Hawai'i, we call this being "'ono" for something. I always thought this was a misuse of the Hawaiian word for delicious but, actually, the word also means "to relish or crave."

Just about anything — a song, a book, a movie, a poster glimpse in the window of a travel agency — can get me 'ono for something. And into the kitchen I go.