October 26th, 2007
What is it about cooking that I love so much? My list is huge: the earthy smell of paper bag and potatoes; citrus fruit and its spray of fine acid scent when you cut it; the sensualism of kneading, rolling, crushing; creative realization when yes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; soft cheese and hard crusts and silky sauces; red and green and yellow; tastes to burn or sweeten, sharpen or mellow.
Food nourishes the body but also the spirit. Eating is so much more than just ingesting – or rather, you’re ingesting more than just food. When food is lovingly prepared, eating is being loved. When it is taken as part of a group, food is community and ceremony. When given to others, food is an expression of connection. Who doesn’t love to be offered home made food at someone else’s house? How many of us remember tarts and squares and other treats as part of holiday offerings made by older relatives to us in childhood? Birthday cakes or Halloween candies; pancakes on lazy weekends, popcorn at the movies?
I love to cook. It relaxes and recharges me. And then I have the singular pleasure of offering what I’ve made, knowing that I am bringing something that smells and tastes and feels good to others. Stew in winter, light summer pastas. Long simmered soups and salty salads. The process is rewarding all on its own. I like to mind how things develop, how ingredients change colour and texture and flavour with the cooking. It’s like enjoying several dishes in rapid succession: sauteed onions and garlic with spices, then pan fried potatoes, then a hash of potatoes and tomatoes, finally a stew-like concoction of the forgoing plus corn and green onions and feta cheese crumbled on top. My recipient only gets the last, but I have enjoyed all four.
Cooking has also become an expression of my ethics. Nothing dies to feed me, no lights are put out. It’s life begetting life – fabulous! It’s also part of how I take care of myself. Sure, I could have Froot Loops for breakfast – or I could throw some yogurt and an orange and a pear into a blender and have, in two minutes, something healthful and delicious. When did it become onerous to give yourself the gift of real food? Don’t believe them when they tell you it takes hours to cook. Simple food nourishes as well as complex, and often has cleaner, fresher taste. Eating well should be a right, and you shouldn’t settle for anything less.
Nourish yourself!
My parents were, sadly, not very good cooks. I never really learned to enjoy cooking. Mostly I do “heating up” when I use any of the appliances at home. Normally I get takeout/delivery. I’d just rather be doing other things than cooking, it seems. It’s hard to eat healthy that way, unfortunately.