Today, I was making beef stew for dinner. I was really excited because I knew the result was going to be delicious and couldn't wait to devour it. I also had a little bit more time than normal to enjoy the experience of making the meal, instead of rushing to simply get energy into my body STAT (which happens...most of the time).
While I was doing this, I thought about how cooking can be considered an art or a science. And how, like any other activity in our lives, there are those who are talented and those who learn the skill.
Some people that I know, learn just the basics of cooking (how to not give yourself salmonella essentially) and that's all they need to know. For them, cooking food is simply a function of survival.
Chicken breast, sidekicks, green beans, done.
For others, it is a learned skill where the individual learns as much as they can, finds new recipes, tries them out and improves from the experience to make relatively simple, but tasty meals.
Beef stew anyone?
And then there's the ones who cook with flair, who know exactly which flavours work well together, who can experiment and create fun and delicious culinary experiences.
Please share any examples you can think of!
No matter which type you are, cooking is a necessary life skill and one that could develop into a type of art. Like any other art form, there are techniques that one can learn to improve their abilities even if they wouldn't consider themselves 'a natural'. I sincerely wish that Culinary Arts was part of the curriculum for Fine Arts. That is one concept that I think Montessori has ALL figured out, that I would love to be a part of. What better way for our students to integrate the wonder of art into their daily lives, in a way that is functional and (I believe) has incredible value and empowerment opportunity for our youth. Bon apetit!
I was a line cook for the better part of 10 years before I got into construction. It was a job that was essentially handed to me and, seeing as how was too lazy to look for another job, I did it for a long time even though I didn't really care for it. However, I absolutely love cooking! Doing it as a job really took the creativity out of it and it became very monotonous. Cooking at home is a completely different story. I love to experiment with flavor and think of new and interesting ways to prepare foods that are gluten free for Tanya to eat. I have even started to be conscious of presentation lately (probably because I watch a lot of cooking shows) and that is where the real art of cooking can come in. I like to think that food should appeal to all of your senses, not just to your taste buds. That's often easier said than done, but its fun to try!
ReplyDeleteI really agree that it is a blend of art and science. I particularly love to bake, which mostly involves gluten-filled foods. I've always thought of baking being closer to science though, just because a lot of the time measurements (math) and timing have to be fairly exact and substitutions or even doubling a recipe can be tricky. Whereas a lot of stove top cooking can be more creative and quite spontaneous at times.
ReplyDeleteI have had a "culinary arts" component to this course in the past - and students could bring in a snack for everyone and write about how they would build a lesson around how to prepare that item. We had lots of Halloween food, like fondant eyeballs and armpit fudge. But FoodSafe courses are needed and time seems more and more precious...glad you raised the link here. Thanks for your comments, Michael and Chris - this is a great way to get to know you better as well as to explore arts ideas.
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