Great Relationships Are Like Mouth-Watering Creme Brulee
Personal Growth, Work Relationships, Workplace CommunicationThis week’s Comfort Food is about mouth-watering Crème Brûlée. You may well ask what Crème Brûlée has to do with relationships. Actually a lot…stay with me a moment. Crème Brûlée is a French term for what the English refer to as Burnt Cream. It consists of smooth custard topped with a small amount of sugar that has been caramelized using a small torch or broiler. It’s usually a special dessert one enjoys in an elegant restaurant at the end of a superb dining experience.
I recently had one of these delicious encounters. I met a former associate for lunch to catch up on work and life experiences. We talked for what seemed like hours, reminiscing about former work relationships and sharing what we learned from them. We chatted about family and friends and disclosed how much we had grown professionally.
At the end of our meal we were given a dessert menu. At the top of the list was the house specialty, Cranberry & Orange Crème Brûlée. Yum! It was wonderful!
Crème Brûlée & Relationships
There’s just something about sharing a meal, especially a dessert like Crème Brûlée, with a like-minded person. It soothes the soul and enhances the relationship. When we take time to gather together this way, we reap benefits far beyond the simple pleasure of the meal itself.
Better Communication
The custard in Crème Brûlée is a mixture of milk and eggs thickened by gentle heating. Apply too much heat and the mixture will curdle and burn; not enough heat and the ingredients will become an unappetizing and watery mess. Relationships require gentle handling as well. Keeping up to date about what is going on with jobs, family and friends enhances communication and helps to meet our basic requirements as humans to feel needed and to belong.
Shared Learning
Crème Brûlée takes 15 minutes to prepare but 60 minutes to bake. Recipes range from the straightforward and simple to the sophisticated and complicated. Relationships are established in a moment, but thrive through mutual give-and-take. One party takes on the role of teacher and the other that of learner. These roles are shared and exchanged as knowledge is imparted and received.
Stronger Bond
The secret to mouth-watering Crème Brûlée is the perfect temperature of the sugar and custard. The custard should be cold and firm while the sugar is warm, crisp and caramelized to a sheet of brown smoothness. This way one gets to enjoy not only the flavors, but the textures which are enhanced by the different temperatures. The desired outcome of the relationships we build is to develop stronger connections or bonds with other like-minded people. Both my colleague and I laughed a bit about our own feeble attempts to make Crème Brûlée as I savored every spoonful of the delicious concoction (she did not eat any but had decaf cappuccino instead). And at the end of our lunch time together, we parted with our relationship batteries recharged and our friendship stronger than ever.
A by-product of healthy relationships is a higher sense of self-worth. Don’t let your relationships slip through your fingers. Take someone out for Crème Brûlée and strengthen your connection.
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