An ad for Sam Hawk that I designed a year ago for a non-design class in school. Mouth watering?
gus·to   (gst)
n.
1. Enjoyment or vigor in doing something; zest.
A number of weeks ago my mom commented that my brother Dan “eats with gusto”. Think of the movie “What About Bob?”. Similar enjoyment factor, but combine it with vigor and that’s exactly how he eats certain foods, like spicy grilled pork from Sam Hawk.
I thought about that today as I ate some Dwenjang Jjigae for lunch (from Sam Hawk, of course). It was rainy today and somehow the Korean soup seemed to be the perfect meal. It’s not one that I consider terribly spicy, but then I have developed a taste for spicy foods. I found myself eating it with vigor– with gusto, if you will. Maybe not as much as Dan, because I was in the atrium at work and didn’t want to be as vocal as he is about the enjoyment (seriously, one time last fall the guys went out for Korean, and when Dan finished, Jesse asked “Wow. Are you gonna go out and smoke a cig now?”).
But I was interested in the vigor factor at lunch today. You see, my nose was running like crazy and my eyes were watering. Aren’t those signs that the food is fairly spicy? I’ve mentioned this before about Korean food… somehow it gets pretty spicy yet has more flavor than other spicy foods such that the spiciness can’t put a lid on the gusto– I’m not sure that makes sense, but I don’t know any other kind of food where I can just shovel it in my face with such vigor and enjoy it so much all while the eyes are watering, nose running and mouth burning (I guess that Dwenjang soup is spicier than I give it credit for).
Any other foods that are so good that you eat them with gusto? Or do you never eat with gusto? If not, you’re missing out.
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7 responses to “Eating with Gusto”
What font is Sam Hawk written in?
Good question. I’ll have to dig up the original file sometime. This is just a tiff I had stored remotely. I’ll let you know when I find out.
how about Buffalo Wings?? I eat them with such gusto that my brother once commented that I eat them like a dinasaur (a carnivorous one, obliviously). But, yeah, that Dwen-jjong is some good stuff. It can be really spicy – but it’s more of a curry-type spice, rather than the pepper spices. It kind of reminds me of curry, or of like a horseradish type spiciness. I also like to eat Wartermelon with gusto. Remember when Sister Waddell won that wartermelon eating contest? That was fun. I almost choked to death on mine, because I wasn’t chewing it, I just took big bites and swallowed them whole. But one time the bite was too big for my throat-hole, and it got stuck there. I was gulping and swallering, but I finally had to regurgitate it and chomp it smaller. that was a scary couple of minutes – let me tell you what. It is the only time I’ve had something in my throat that was too big for it. I thought I would need to have someone fish for it. Luckily I could still breathe! ha ha. “Death by Wartermelon Swallering.”
Eating with gusto: I think to really see that you have to watch a young child. I.E. my little Ka’iwa or Kalena. Now when there is cake in front of them…. that is eating with gusto. Spicey foods, I love eating them but must say I probably don’t have any gusto. However, when I was in Hawaii last week I ate Sushi with gusto. I think my brother looked at me funny a couple of times because I enjoyed almost too much.
I eat ice cream with gusto. Particularly a chocolate milkshake with whipped cream in the glass from Leatherbys in Taylorsville. Cold Stone works too… or ANY ice cream for that matter.
Just give me some ice cream.
Can you DRINK with gusto?
travis–
Excellent! I can recall eating both with gusto. Most recently buffalo wings… for the last few years we’ve made a point of making wings during the superbowl. I look forward to the superbowl for the wings, not the game. Wings… *drools* Gusto indeed. I think I even have a picture from last year’s superbowl with a few of us guys with buffalo wing sauce all over our faces after enjoying them so much, mmm….
And watermelon… I remember eating a half a watermelon one time while doing some manual labor in the heat of the summer in Korea. I tell ya… when it’s that hot and humid and you’re parched… that day I learned why it’s called Watermelon, because it might as well have been a beverage the way we slurped it down.
Cass- I think kids might enjoy life more than us 😉 In any case, I’m glad you enjoyed the sushi. That much better there, eh? Maybe I’ll have to try it when I head back there…
Mel- hehe, can you remember being a little kid and just slurping your drink extra loud to express your enjoyment? Or maybe gulping it down and making audible gulps? I think you can drink with gusto, but ice cream… yah got me there. Brain freeze prevents me from eating ice cream vigorously, but mmm.. how about candy cane / peppermint ice cream? Delish, it’s a shame it only comes out in stores around Christmas.
I remember one of my friends once said, “Yeah I don’t eat red meat, but I eat birds. In fact, I eat them with gusto!” Hehe.
And the ‘are you going to have a cigarette now?’ line made me laugh so.