Why Cook?

Cusina · March 15, 2004

Today I drove past a Perkins. Their sign read "Why Cook? Come in and try our bla blah blah..."

Why cook? What a question! I can think of a thousand answers. Spent my ride home pondering. Here are a few of my thoughts:

I love discovering something new every time.

The look of bliss on your fellow diners' faces when you get it just right.

Creativity

Variety

Learning from my mistakes

Blending and balancing

Using beautiful tools like a sharp chefs' knife and a seasoned iron skillet

Spending time thinking and doing

Being able to actually have a tangible result of your efforts

Appreciating the fact that while the sum is often much more than the combination of the parts, it can never be better than the baseline level of quality and freshness.

Spontaneity

Being able to reflect my mood or my surroundings, even the weather, in what I make

Being able to make the day of the person I'm cooking for (myself or someone else)

There is always a new challenge.

Even your worst disasters are only temporary. There will be another opportunity in less than 24 hours to try again.

Conversations about cooking are often rewarding and have intrinsic appeal.

There are so many wise words, beautiful books, articles and pictures about the subject. Research is a joy.

Developing a feeling of mastery that grows and reaffirms itself daily balanced by a feeling of wonder at how little you really do know about the art and how much there is yet to learn.

The ability to appreciate the thought and effort involved when someone else cooks for you.

Knicke · March 15, 2004

Tasting, Smelling, Touching, Nibbling...throughout!

Getting to play with the ingredients is key for me. When you cook for yourself, the food seems more real. You get to see the transformation from fridge to fry-pan to fork.

It's hard for me to fathom NOT wanting to be in on prep as well as eatin'!

bleachboy · March 15, 2004

Long story short: Cooking is fun!

slkinsey · March 15, 2004

Not having to eat at Perkin's is pretty high on my list of reasons... :smile:

Cusina · March 15, 2004

Not having to eat at Perkin's is pretty high on my list of reasons...

bwahahaha... :laugh: exactly!

I knew you guys would get it.

pattimw · March 15, 2004

the anticipation of eating the utterly fantastic meal you have created.

the pleasure it gives other people, especially friends and family.

the good feelings food and wine evoke

JPW · March 15, 2004

Not having to eat at Perkin's is pretty high on my list of reasons...

AMEN.

But also...

Knowing what's in your food.

Learning why your food tastes the way it does.

Being able to attempt new unusual fusions of foods that have no good reason to be unified (frying the ground beef for my tacos in Thai chili paste instead of using more tradditional taco spices)

tryska · March 15, 2004

things taste better when they are not mass-produced.

oh and it's cheaper to cook at home.

cbarre02 · March 15, 2004

BECAUSE WE CAN!

Edited March 15, 2004 by cbarre02 (log)

Big Bunny · March 15, 2004

I enjoy almost every phase of cooking.

I study history and geography while doing "armchair travel" from my kitchen.

I love books - especially pretty books.

Ethnic groceries are always exciting.

I love good food, and it is especially satisfying to be able to make your own.

Economical, too!

I like being an amateur scientist in my laboratory.

A good conversation about food can be (almost) as satisfying as food itself.

The more you can cook, the better the conversation.

I don't even mind doing dishes.

Now if I could just find someone to keep my kitchen floor clean ...

BB

Pickles · March 15, 2004

Long story short: Cooking is fun!

As a Personal Chef, my living depends on people who hate cooking. :biggrin: And my clients really do hate it. They hate shopping for ingredients, prepping foods, reading recipes. So I make the big bucks helping them enjoy food without the mess and hassels they think exist with its creation. It's not as though they don't like to eat. None of my friends cook either..so it's rare for me to be treated to anything more fancy in their homes than a bit of baked salmon and a salad. Which is fine...just not overly thrilling. And I get

"Want to have dinner next week, Pickles?!" :biggrin:

"Sure!" :laugh:

"Good! What are you going to make for us!" :cool:

So much for being a guest ever again! :unsure:

Edited March 15, 2004 by Pickles (log)

bloviatrix · March 15, 2004

....the zen of chopping. (where's the blissed out emoticon?)

....because it makes the house smell fabulous.

....the sense of accomplishment of putting together an good meal

....homemade food makes better leftovers.

sml311 · March 15, 2004

The phrase "Anything you can do I can do better" comes to mind. (Especially when thinking about Perkins.)

Exceptions:

The really top places I go to a few times a year. (I wish I were that good...)

Indian food...the guys at my local place totally kick my ass on this one. That's why I'm a regular :biggrin: .

SML

Rhea_S · March 15, 2004

I know what exactly is in my food.

It's relaxing or thrilling depending on what I'm cooking.

I eat well for much less money.

I get to try dishes unavailable locally.

ronnie_suburban · March 15, 2004

I love cooking but there are plenty of times when I don't feel like doing it. Still, in those moments, I have to say that Perkins doesn't really come to mind. :biggrin:

I remember years ago, they had some slogan like "Perkins, we're gonna grandmother you" which always cracked me up. My only personal experience eating at Perkins was a bad one. Hours after our meal, all 3 of us who'd dined there got pretty ill. But, since the meal followed a day-long Dead show, I'm not exactly certain it was Perkins which did us in... :wink:

=R=

hillvalley · March 15, 2004

'cause I get to chop garlic and imagine it is my boss' head :biggrin:

adoxograph · March 15, 2004

In this day and age so many things we do come preassembled, shrinkwrapped and sanitized.

Cook because it's dirty, messy, and unpredictable. Cook because it shows you where things come from, and there is no question of what the is the underlying purpose.

Cook so that you can eat, eat well, eat fully. There is a difference between satisfaction and joy.

Mostly, though, it's creation. Feel the power mwah hahahahaha. :)

Lady T · March 15, 2004

:biggrin:

I can putter and play and take all the time I want/need without a deadline.

It tastes better.

It's cheaper.

I can play with different wine pairings that interest me without some twit looking down his/her overrefined nose at me.

I can have all the asparagus I want.

Nobody will complain about the shallots in the vinaigrette.

and finally:

It's the best of all revenges on the elderly aunts who told me, long ago, not to play with my food. (Guess how well they cooked? :wacko: )

:biggrin:

hwilson41 · March 15, 2004

I know what exactly is in my food.

That is probably the single most important facet to me. I read lists of ingredients, and not being a chemist, I haven't the faintest damned idea what many of them are. When I make my own Saucisse de Toulouse (for example), I know exactly what went into it. If it tastes good, we know who gets the credit. And if it tastes bad, we know who to blame. And we also know it isn't the biphenyl-hydro-what-in-the-hell-is-this-crap that made it taste funny :laugh: .

THW

JFLinLA · March 15, 2004

Long story short: Cooking is fun!

Well, most of the time it's fun.

But really, it's my creative outlet.

It's (usually) for the people I love.

It's a way for me to stay in touch with family traditions, teach them to my kids, learn about other traditions, and create new traditions.

ronnie_suburban · March 16, 2004

But really, it's my creative outlet.
It's (usually) for the people I love.
It's a way for me to stay in touch with family traditions, teach them to my kids, learn about other traditions, and create new traditions.

:smile: What she said :smile:

=R=

hjshorter · March 16, 2004

I agree with just about all the posters on this thread. :smile:

It's something I can share with my kids. My four year old found the kid cookbook on the shelf and started reading it a couple of days ago. She has asked to help with dinner every day since then. It's so cool.

maggiethecat · March 16, 2004

As my grandfather might have said: "It's something that separates us from the other animals." :biggrin:

---And all of the other reasons listed above. Would someone kind please tell me whassa Perkins?

lala · March 16, 2004

'cause I get to chop garlic and imagine it is my boss' head

I hear ya!!!

I cook because I'm compelled to. It's a large part of what defines me, and I'm most fully ME when I'm cooking. It's taking care of me, whether I need comfort or am feeling virtous with a mess of veggies, and taking care of others, sitting them down to a good meal 'I know what you like, and here's a great version of it!'. I love everything about it...the quick 'what's in the fridge that I can whup up?', to a morning at the farmer's market strolling around, the menu changing in my head as I see what the next vendor has to offer.

Unpacking all the goodies, laying them out on the counter, then clearing the decks, putting on the music, kicking my shoes off, and getting down to it. It's life, it's love, it's Zen, and I'd die if I couldn't do it.