𝗠𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆

One summer day, I was shooting hoops in the backyard of a neighborhood kid named Giulio. Around noon, his mother, an immigrant to Brooklyn from Italy, waved us inside for lunch.

I took a seat at the small kitchen table, and before me was a bowl brimming with spaghetti. The first bite was a revelation for my 12-year-old palate – the flavor of fresh garlic. It was intoxicating.

The experience wasn’t quite like restoring sight to the blind, but in a real way, my taste buds came alive that day. I could not believe what I had been missing.

“You eat like this every day?”, I asked Giulio, incredulously.

“Yeah, it’s like peanut butter and jelly to you Irish,” he joked.

The spaghetti served by my beloved Irish mother paired salty, sugary, store-bought sauce out of a jar with cans of tomato paste designed to fill the bellies of her six kids, five of whom were ravenous boys. It was, understandably, all about volume, not variety.

Tasting fresh garlic for the first time might seem like such a small thing in today’s world, where cultural influences of all kinds are much more prevalent. But in a simpler time, that one meal left a lasting impression because it introduced me to something I thought I already knew.

𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦

The experience of fresh garlic encouraged me to try other dishes that never would have graced my mother’s table. But more than that, it opened my mind to possibility. It gave me the idea that if an unfamiliar flavor could be so fulfilling, perhaps an unfamiliar place or perspective could be just as transformative. I’d like to think this mindset has helped my career as a communicator.

The best communicators, like the best chefs, are insatiably curious and innovative. They understand that blending different influences makes their work richer. They know their audience, which words to use and in what amount, when those words should be added to the mix, and through what medium. Communicating successfully is not unlike preparing a great meal – it requires the right ingredients properly prepared and expertly served at just the right time. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 ‘𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵’?

On a summer day decades ago, Giulio’s mother served what was to her nothing more than a staple of Italian cooking. She could not have known that her humble act of hospitality would lead a neighborhood kid to think a little differently about food, and even life.

What was your “garlic moment”? What did you experience that changed the way you see the world? As they say in Brooklyn, tell me about it.