Have you ever analyzed what and how you cook?

[handmc]

Do the dishes you cook play out a subconscious theme?

So I was driving from Knoxville to Pennsylvania and I was listening to a music critic analyze a young composer’s work. Out of the 20 plus pieces he had composed she noted in a large number of them a single melody reveals itself subtly throughout his work.

When asked about it, it stunned the young composer and he went back and looked the entire body of work and found the few note phrase in all but a few of his works.

The critic raised the question because she was intrigued how this phrase was used to build interesting melodies in his music, while noting how distinct each piece was.

So I got to thinking are there recurrent themes in my cooking, flavor combinations, techniques that appear frequently, are there techniques or flavors I avoid?

Maybe it was because I had 11 hours to burn thinking about things but to get this started I noticed I tend to shy away for sweet and bitter. I love fish but seldom cook it, I think it is a fear issue, similar to one I have for baking. Why to I shy away from using rice, something I love and tend to default to potatoes and other starches?

I might be over thinking things, perhaps not. I’m curious has anyone ever looked for common themes, etc., in the dishes they prepare the most. Does it change for whom you are cooking or whether it is a special gathering?

Edited December 20, 2006 by handmc (log)

[Miriam Kresh]

This is an interesting theme. I know I do, and believe most other home cooks do also, change the cooking to please different guests. Like if I know someone despises mushroom quiche and salad, I'll pot roast beef and mash potatoes for them. But a common theme, running through my cuisine...I'm not sure. When I'm thinking of comfort food, I'm aware of why I pull out out chicken, rice, and ground turkey meat. It's because when I'm sick or down, chicken soup, turkey meat balls on rice, and a green vegetable make me feel nurtured. And that's what I tend to cook for anyone else who's sick or sad. (Hate that word, "nurtured", with its pop psychology feel, but it fits right now.)

Actually, just now with "nurture" in mind, I discovered the theme in my cooking: more than the creative/eating satisfaction involved, it's taking care of my family and myself. I kept my husband alive on chicken soup once when he was hospitalized for three months; it was the only thing he could eat, and I brought him a thermos-full daily. When I cook, it's mostly for my family, and I'm cooking with their health and satisfaction in mind. Guess that's it for me. Whether it's rice and beans or Jewish Penicillin or lamb tajine, the cooking is for them.

Miriam

Edited December 20, 2006 by Miriam Kresh (log)

[Mikeb19]

Back when I was a kid, I grew up on Ukrainian food. My mother is Ukrainian, my father French. Now as a professional cook, I have been trained in French cuisine by several excellent French chefs.

My food definitely reflects this culinary mix, Ukrainian flavours and ingredients with good French technique, and living in Canada, the Northern climate definitely influences me too, in choice of ingredients as well as in inspiration. I go for very savoury, 'warm' flavours mostly.

While I have experimented with alot of avant-garde techniques and whatnot (as a professional I need to keep ahead of all the current trends, stay up to date on the very newest techniques), I prefer more traditional food.

[KarenSherwood]

Oh that's easy! I'm obsessed with garlic. It ends up in almost everything I make (except cookies). I believe, with almost religious fervor, that there's NO main or side dish that wouldn't benefit from a little garlic. Basil and dill would be a close second, but garlic is the theme that holds my culinary symphony together.

[RobinKateB]

Actually this is something I have thought of before, without an eleven hour drive. I feel that most cooks or chefs have a flavor palate. For example I love the taste of thyme and it is in many of the dishes I cook, especially when I am improvising. In addition I enjoy varied cuisines such as Ethiopian, Greek, Indian, Morrocan etc. I also know I use lots of garlic and onions and in the wonter most dishes are braised.

Actually my "flavor palate" is why I do not invite one couple I know more often to my house. He does not like onions, too much garlic or anything to out of the ordinary. She does not like dill (did I mention I lvoe Greek food). When I try to cook for them I feel like I am trying to do it with 2 hands tied behind my back.

Robin

[godito]

I think about it daily... then again, I'm planning a lot of dishes lately, and I like to put a lot of thought into them. This is what I discovered:

1. I like cilantro and hot peppers. Yes, my cooking is mostly latin american, but I still have to learn to control myself (the usual answer to "how can this dish be better?" is "add something spicy to it!")

2. My food has some generalities. My menus have more fish than anything else, and I try to avoid meat as much as possible. When I do use it, I'm partial to longer slower cooking methods (like braising or stewing).

3. I tend to like fruit in my savory dishes. I make a peach salsa (and sometimes other fruits), I roast pineapples and watermelons, and I serve figs as often as I can.

4. My desserts tend to be less on the sweet side and more on the tart and bitter side (like high % cocoa chocolate and citrics)

The more we think about how we cook, the more we can change it not to hit the same "notes" all the time. The composer you mentioned might have done it on purpose, but more likely he never stopped to think what he was doing. He just kept playing what sounded good. Same with me... now my dishes have less cilantro and chillis.