“Shared meals have always been about community, about what happens among family and friends—even enemies—when they gather around a table to eat; but once upon a time, before every family had its own kitchen in which Mom labored more or less alone, cooking was in itself a social activity, one that fostered community and conversation around the chopping board or cook fire long before the meal was served.”

—Michael Pollan, American author, journalist, activist and professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley