In the 2018 semi-final of the BBC series Masterchef, one of the judges, John Torode, was moved to tears over the apple crumble produced by contestant David Crichton. Welling up Torode waxed lyrical about the pudding saying it was ‘Fabulous, fantastic and faultless. Like honestly, it makes me well up – that is sensational.That’s what this competition is about where you push yourself to the stage where you make your own puff pastry and take the risk.’
While Torode was mocked mercilessly on social media for his response to what was after all just a pudding, it does go to show that delicious food can produce a response in us that goes way beyond simply satisfying a physical need for sustenance.
No wonder then that when the Psalmist David was looking for a way to describe the difference that knowing God had made to his life he came up with the following: ‘My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.’ If David Crichton’s apple crumble moved John Torode to tears, how much more precious and delightful is the presence of God who satisfies our longing be loved and who gives our lives ultimate and eternal purpose and meaning.
