Why I never learned.
The more I think about it, the more I like the AB to Z concept. Learn a little and share a little. Increment the letter for each post. E might be eggs but it's too earily to tell. Once I'm up to Z, I might start back with AB. Why AB? I don't want to tackle that one quite yet.
I first want to tackle a question that will perhaps save me a few months of psycho-analysis. Why, at my age, am I just learning to cook? The short and sweet story is my mother was never much of a cook and didn't teach me canola oil from canned soup. My mother taught me a lot of things, no doubt about that, but culinary skills weren't in the mix. I skated through most of my life having people, like my wife, cook for me. Oh, I can make deli sandwiches and whip up an ok pot of chili (thank God for male genes) or make something on the stove top. I have a black-belt in Microwave - not that I'm bragging. Only with supervision had I ever used the oven.
The most perplexing part has been my personal culinary history. I grew up watching Jeff Smith and Justin Wilson, two fine cooks in their own right, but I never had it in me to put a whisk in a bowl.
Why, after all this time, have I decided to make myself a decent chef? Because I have recently discovered what I'd been missing all these years - the understanding of cooking. I thought you cooked to eat. But then why my fasination with cooking shows? I don't care THAT much about how my food is made. We cook TO cook - that's what I finally learned. I thought peole cook just to eat - 30 mintes of prep for a 10 minutes meal seemed too much for me. Truth is, cooking is creative, it's fun, it's productive, it's science, it involves fire(!), and it's a benefit to those around us. I just never realized that before.
I first want to tackle a question that will perhaps save me a few months of psycho-analysis. Why, at my age, am I just learning to cook? The short and sweet story is my mother was never much of a cook and didn't teach me canola oil from canned soup. My mother taught me a lot of things, no doubt about that, but culinary skills weren't in the mix. I skated through most of my life having people, like my wife, cook for me. Oh, I can make deli sandwiches and whip up an ok pot of chili (thank God for male genes) or make something on the stove top. I have a black-belt in Microwave - not that I'm bragging. Only with supervision had I ever used the oven.
The most perplexing part has been my personal culinary history. I grew up watching Jeff Smith and Justin Wilson, two fine cooks in their own right, but I never had it in me to put a whisk in a bowl.
Why, after all this time, have I decided to make myself a decent chef? Because I have recently discovered what I'd been missing all these years - the understanding of cooking. I thought you cooked to eat. But then why my fasination with cooking shows? I don't care THAT much about how my food is made. We cook TO cook - that's what I finally learned. I thought peole cook just to eat - 30 mintes of prep for a 10 minutes meal seemed too much for me. Truth is, cooking is creative, it's fun, it's productive, it's science, it involves fire(!), and it's a benefit to those around us. I just never realized that before.
posted by Chris at 5:38 AM
2 Comments:
I enjoy cooking more than eating these days. I started learning when I was 4 or 5 at my sitter's house. I seemed to ALWAYS be the one nominated to cook, in Boy Scouts, in college, and even now, I am THE cook. (Better than being a dishwasher.)
Although my kids complain about my choice of spices, they still haven't replaced me as head chef. So, for now, everything we eat contains a big slice of love, as well as a pound each of; onions, garlic, and cayenne pepper.
"So, for now, everything we eat contains a big slice of love, as well as a pound each of; onions, garlic, and cayenne pepper."
No better kind!
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