# Is the art of cooking dying?



## onepiece (Jan 24, 2011)

I walk into my Walmart, and I see Chunky Soup, Spices in pre measured packages, fast food places in the walmart, and one of the worst things I have seen in a while, a plastic container containing pre diced onions.  Seriously!?!?!  The onions are even pre sliced now.  I feel that a decent soup is disregarded now that a chunky soup only cost around $1.25.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I think there's a higher interest in being able to cook well. But not on a daily basis, rather for occasions.

The art of cooking daily from scratch to feed the family well and economically, that I would say is dying.


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## onepiece (Jan 24, 2011)

I think you are right about the daily from scratch cooking is dying.  It is funny what has happened to cooking pancakes.  First pancakes were made from flour (pancakes from scratch), and then we had Bisquick, which made it where you only need milk and eggs.  Have you seen what they have now?  Squirt bottle pancakes, a container that is barely filled with a premade mix,  and you just fill the bottle with water.   So now it has become where you put water in the jug, and pour into the skillet.


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## thekitchensink (Aug 4, 2009)

I don't think you can really judge based on the food available at Walmart. You know from the jump that Walmart is all about convenience. They're not interested in the art of anything. However, plenty of people shop at Whole Foods and other markets that sell quality ingredients, and even if you're just shopping at the local supermarket you'll still find plenty of base ingredients. Pre-packaged food is definitely very popular right now though - no arguing that.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I believe the art of cooking in the home is controlled by economics. When mom left the kitchen to go back to the workplace to raise the family standard of living , is realy when pre prepared foods or less work for mother realy started. If mom was lucky enough to stay home and remain a housewife, she was able to spend moer time on cooking.. Today we are all in the center of a speed, hurry up  society  ""Time is Money ""so to speak. The home and commercial applications differ. Many food service facilities still scratch cook.In many cases they do not based on labor cost. Its a fine line . Fast food today is not fast enough for most people. I visualize the future when every corner will have a battery of vending machines where you will put your credit card, A prepared item will be dispensed, you will go back to your car and where your glove compartment is now will be your  own microwave oven. Bingo thats it. Don't laugh it is feasable.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

I still cook from scratch.  My children do so, too.

We (perhaps, luckily) don't have Walmart here.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Is it taught ?

My grandmother's mother did it . We were all taught to make it from stratch. Oh don't worry, if there was a short cut, we found out about it. But that is how our family came to together. This was how the generation taught the younger generation. We were told we could not marry men if we could not cook. We were also told that a way to a man's heart was to or through (so my translation) his belly.....so my sisters and I spent summers in the kitchen and taking classes , trying to learn from scratch how to cook.

The "life lessons" which I like to call them, have never left me. When I go to the store and I see a box of Mac and cheese , I know the chemicals that go into making it, yes , it takes all of 5 minutes to make, but when I make it from scratch, it is real food.,

I enjoy a break from cooking like everyone else . But in my line of work, there are no short cuts.

It brings me back to a day (when I read this) 8 years ago my boss invited 36 people to lunch, no warning. My boss wanted my famous Borscht. What my boss did not know was that i did not have fresh beets on hand that day, I resorted to canned beets. There was nothing wrong with my soup that day. In fact everyone loved it. But later on that afternoon , a lady came into my kitchen and asked one question : Did you use fresh or canned beets ? Could not look at her.........canned !!!!

I know what you are saying..........get over it. But that is what I mean........do you know what i mean ?


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

As is evident by the diverse responses, OnePiece, you're really talking two different issues.

Issue one is the convenience world we live in, where "get it done" is more important than "get it done right." And there's no question, due to a number of influences, that most people are quite happy with that. They _know _that many of those convenience products suffer in quality, and that there are potential health issues. But convenience rules.

Just for what it's worth, voting in favor of convenience isn't at all new. In one of his letters Thomas Jefferson explains why the Declaration of Independence was signed so quickly. Independence Hall was located next to a stable, and the horseflies were particularly numerous and agressive that July. "Teason," he says, "was preferable to discomfort." But I digress.

The other issue is, are people not learning to cook nowadays. And in that I partially disagree with the other posters. After two generations of Americans who grew up confusing cooking with microwaving, there is a large, and growing population, of people who now want to cook. There are a number of influences causing this; health concerns, the return-to-family-values syndrome, the whole foodie thing, and others. Their problem is that they lack the gestalt, the basic education Petals refers to that us older folks learned at our mothers' knees.

Is cooking taught, anymore? Not in the sense of mother-to-daughter, or in home-ec classes at school. But there are lots of learning venues. There is the plethora of cooking shows on the TV, for instance; two networks devoted to food, and specials and series on half a dozen other channels. And there are short courses offered by culinary schools. And the people like myself who offer classes of various kinds.

So, from where I sit, the art of cookery is actually in better shape now than it's been in the past 30 years.


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## onepiece (Jan 24, 2011)

May interesting points made here.  See, I am raised in a single parent home, as a young child, home cooked food wasn't an often thing.  Most items were instant, Chunky Soup, and frozen pizza.      I do agree with the point that food will eventually be served much quicker.  It isn't uncommon to see vehicles lined up to the outside of the parking lot waiting at the Mcdonalds drive thru.                     I also agree with the idea that more people want to be able to cook good food for an occassion, but only then.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

It's interesting that at least 2 of the McDonald's in my home city have closed due to lack of customers - the franchisees just gave up the ghost - and the premises are now boarded up - and will presumably stay so in the present deep recession.

I can only speak from personal experience.  I am a good cook.  My mother and grandmothers were good cooks - as were their mothers...  my daughters are getting there!


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## onepiece (Jan 24, 2011)

Indeed, that is interesting.  I live in the US, on the Kentucky/Tennessee border, and the Mcdonalds are just all over the place.  I find it odd because there are quite a few foreclosures, and the average household income isn't very high here.

My parent never enjoyed or liked cooking.  She holds the knife in the fist grip, and the idea of spending more than $20 on a knife is foreign to her.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Just out of curiousity, OnePiece, where, exactly are you?

I'm outside of Richmond, where the fast-food, take-out, convenience mentality is, at a guess, about 70% or so. That's without counting the college community. Among them it's probably an effective 95% or higher. The rest of the people do cook. And once you get into the hill country to the east of us the percentage of people who cook goes up.

I wonder how much that might reflect the country at large? That is, the more urbanized the environment, the less likely it is for people to cook on a regular basis?


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## onepiece (Jan 24, 2011)

I live in Oak Grove, Kentucky.  About 4 miles from Fort Campbell, and Clarksville TN.


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## jim berman (Oct 28, 1999)

I had the very good fortune to talk with Jacques Pepin a few years' ago. We got on the topic of home cooking and he said, as I'll never forget, "The cooking shows are more popular than ever! Yet, nobody cooks!"  I think there is no arguing convenience is merely part of our every day lives. It is what we have created, good, bad or otherwise.


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

I can only offer the extremely small sample of my own experience, but I don't accept this premise at all. Why is Whole Foods doing so well? Why of CT so popular?

Anyway, my family members are all enthusiastic and adventurous cooks, and most of their spouses and kids are, as well. When my wife announced our engagement, her aunt (a spinster) and her mother (a widow) both said "here's what you must learn before you get married," and proceeded to drill her in kitchen skills, which our family has enjoyed and benefitted from for many years.

I only got interested about twenty years ago,, when my wife insisted we buy a food processor. I'm a woodworker and tool nut, and I looked at this gadget and thought "hmmm... what can I do with that thing?" The rest is all downhill and now I, retired, do most of the cooking. We don't eat out a lot because I'd rather do it myself.

As I say, all the family members, and nearly all their kids like to cook _a lot_

Although, we have two or three sophisticated grandchildren who like gourmet dining-out so much that their parents have to restrict their restaurant adventures rather severly. 

As another view on this, my Rotary Club, in the last couple of years, has switched , as an economy measure in these straitened times, from club parties at a nice restaurant to potluck dinners where members supply the food... there are a LOT of good cooks in this group of Rotarians, most of whom are quite well-to-do. They gotta be doing a lot of good cooking at home.

Don't despair. Just stay away from McDonalds.

Mike

And, if your kids ask for Mcdonalds or the equqivalent

Beat them


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........... potluck dinners. Now there's a venue where one can tell just who knows how to cook and who does not.

Casseroles with those crunchy fried onions on top.

Strange looking salads with bits of who knows what inside.

The list is endless.


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## granny smith (Jan 31, 2011)

I live in the hills of Kentucky. While most, if not all, of the older women know how to cook from scratch, many of those of my generation (baby boomer) and younger, do not. I've had women older than me ask me to teach them how to make bread, rolls, and even biscuits. I'm in talks now, with the extension agent, to teach a class in scratch cooking. I want to start with bread, but move into foods you can produce yourself. Another lady is going to teach canning. I might do a class in dehydrating, too, if I can find the time. People need to know this stuff.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

My daughters friend was bragging about how good of a cook her dad is.  A frozen burrito, covered in canned chili. I just nodded my head politely.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

I've been home cooking for a long long time and cooked for my parents and siblings for many years so my parents could both go out and work to support the many of us. Ever since I pretty much home cook, and much of it has been from "scratch". My teenagers know the basics, and could well survive without me.

However, we do have take-out from time to time when there is no time for cooking, and the occasional frozen pizza, tarted up with extras. There is no other option at times, depending what is happening on the day. Some tinned ingredients take part in it, such as crushed tomatoes and beetroot. It's all a part of cooking is realistically in any given situation. But, cooking with fresh ingredients every day is definitely my preference, and I've been glad to be able to be passing it on to them (1 boy 1 girl).

On the other hand, hubby can cook bbq. Getting better at it. Can make a toasted sandwich. His parents did him no favours by not getting him to cook, whereas his brother is excellent at cooking. Just not interested I guess. His speciality is his "Shepards Pie". Baked beans in a pot with instant mashed potatoes plonked on top then smothered in ketchup . Eaten when he is travelling for work straight from the pot /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

_Hey_ *GRANNY SMITH!* I hope your class goes well. For the past coupla years I've been working with a program teaching adults and their kids together. It was called _"Operation Frontline"_. I start a new program/class the first week of May called *"Cooking Matters"*. Anyway, I have a great time doing these classes, and I know you will too.



Here is the COOKBOOK. Maybe it can give you some ideas.


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

How'd you get that program started up?

I'm interested in doing something similar for food stamp/ssi recipients. A lot of them are blowing their budgets on prepared foods because they don't know how to cook. The program I'm associated with has a life skills class for people transitioning out of the assisted living deal. They briefly touch on it. In one class, they went to the market (Kroger's), had each person in the class get one item from the instructor's list. The next week they'd use the ingredients to make something. In this case, it was a chicken pot pie, IIRC they used canned biscuits.

I don't think they do a good job teaching real useful skills.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

_*WHOA!*_

This/that is not at all _MY_ program. NO, NO, NO. _I work_ *WITH THEM*. These are all big-time operators. Big-time people involved. I'm just an amoeba. I'm a little player on a big team.

Go look: Share Our Strength. See what's going on by where you are.


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## jamlady (May 3, 2010)

Teaching my children how to can recently resulted in the biggest thrill for me and for my daughter.  The students in my 15-year-old daughter's health class were given the assignment to each bring in a favorite food to share with the class.  They had to share the recipe, if it was from scratch, or the nutritional analysis if it was prepared and packaged.  A microwave was provided for light cooking if required.

After a week of sitting through packaged cookies, chips, pizza rolls, Lunchables, burritos, and mystery meatballs, she got her turn.  She brought several quarts of tomato soup that she'd canned last summer, using mostly produce from our garden.  A nice combination of heirloom and roma tomatoes, 3 different pepper varieties, celery, onions, cinnamon, cayenne, butter...

She explained to the class that because she was the biggest consumer of tomato soup in our household (she's a fair vegetarian since birth, too), her job every summer is to cook and can the soup concentrate.  It takes her about two days to cook enough for the winter.  She passed out the list of ingredients, which had no preservatives or corn syrup.  Then she mixed the soup with milk, cooked it, and served it. 

Apparently, not a drop was wasted, and everyone tried it.  That's amazing, given the fact that the teacher reported shock and awe in the eyes of the students.  Some mistakenly thought that jars only contained soy candles.  Only a few had ever seen food in jars.  Most thought canned goods needed to be frozen or refrigerated.  And none of them had a clue, not even an inkling, of how canning was accomplished.

She has seen me teach cooking for years, but this was her public debut, besides family.  She got to experience the thrill of bringing the class BACKWARD, to a better way of eating, an easier time with family, and a delight in all the flavors of nature.  Really, for me, this was right up there with my child making the winning touchdown!  She's understood me all these years!


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

I really like Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, or I should say the concept. 

Too many people are obese, have major health issues; if we take baby steps to improve our mind set about food, maybe bringing back Home-Ec classes in the schools, what kind of difference would that make? 

When our kids learned in school that smoking cigarettes could kill you, they begged us to stop! We did.

Now, if our kids learned how to make better choices in food and even how to prepare it, what do you think would happen?


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## gareth (Feb 3, 2011)

I have noticed the art is lost when a mum doesn't have a girl to teach. Dad's can't teach their kids how to hunt because there simply isnt enough to hunt and we live in cities, and if 2 generations dont know then we risk losing the art. I love learning from Nanna and mum about cooking and every time I learn some thing new I am reminded about how little I really do know.

Jamie Oliver love him, hate him he is good for for the art of food. He encourages people to cook with out fear which is just great; and lets face it because so many people don't really know how some thing is "supposed to be", his style of cooking gives the average person room for greatness and mistakes.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

It goes so much deeper than merely not cooking, unfortunately.

Friend Wife and I interpret 18th century foodways at an historic park. Naturally we have numerous school groups come through. It's scary when she starts talking about how the forests were a vast supermarket, or I discuss agriculture of the day, and you realize how few of the kids have a clue as to where food comes from.

It's hard to learn how to cook a steak if you don't know that it started out as a cow, or that veggies don't grow in the frozen food section.


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

… But my Mother didn’t teach me to cook, neither of my parents did.

I had my basic Home-Ec class in the seventh grade and then I taught

myself.  I went to the library, back, way back before the age of the Internet.

I read allot of books.  I brought this topic up to my husband today and we

had a very long discussion.  I came to the realization that I WANTED to learn to cook.


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## leeniek (Aug 21, 2009)

My mom hated cooking and she was not the best cook. Alot of it was my dad in his fussiness so she really had a hard time when it came to dinners.  Lunches were just her and I and we had great ones but dinners were always meat (beef.. he hated poultry, fish, pork etc) overcooked potatoes and vegetables.  The only time she could get him to change was in the summer when she'd made salads for dinner.. potato, pea, macaroni, tossed and we'd have it with cold cuts and cheese.   I love variety and I started out young trying out recipes.  The do-gooder in me went into social service work (I worked with special needs kids before I had my own) and my re-entry to the workforce was in this business as over time I discovered I love food and all things food and well here I am today....


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

Our two nieces, who are in their 30’s, have no clue about cooking!  The oldest girl can ONLY make chocolate chip cookies and the other one steams veggies (she’s vegan).  They’re both married and the oldest has two sweet little girls, thank goodness the two guys know how to cook!!  AND their Mother only eats cold cereal!!  GEZZZ!!!


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

I've been thinking about this topic recently and I was wondering

how many of the professional chefs out there are/have taught

their families/children to cook?


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Jim said:


> I had the very good fortune to talk with Jacques Pepin a few years' ago. We got on the topic of home cooking and he said, as I'll never forget, "The cooking shows are more popular than ever! Yet, nobody cooks!" I think there is no arguing convenience is merely part of our every day lives. It is what we have created, good, bad or otherwise.


I continue to think that some serious food historian will one day investigate closely the reception of Pepin and Child. It seems to me, largely anecdotally, that Julia Child got received as precisely what she did not want to be: a purveyor of great recipes that work great even if you don't know anything. She wanted to teach people to cook French; she became, much against her will, the first of the crowd of "TV cooks" who produced recipes for scratch-cooking that you could do without knowing anything. Pepin, by contrast, has always insisted on technique, and this makes his recipes a little trickier. You can do what he does, of course, and he's a terrific teacher, but there's always this nagging voice saying "learn what I'm doing, not every step but the concepts, and then you can just do this yourself without looking." And it seems to me that Americans do not want to hear this. They didn't want to hear this from Child, and could avoid it; they didn't and don't want to hear it from Pepin, and it's made him never quite as successful as he might have been. I sometimes wonder whether if Pepin had gone on TV in France, in the 70s, he might not have been a superstar: they really _do_ (or did) want to know how, and not everyone actually knows how, and here's this fabulous chef who's a master of classic technique and a terrific teacher.

Is cooking dying? Probably not, but it's certainly having to fight.


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

So ChrisLehrer, which Chef’s camp do you belong to?

Julia’s, just do it

Or

Jacques, technique


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## mrmexico25 (Jan 7, 2012)

I think quite the opposite.  Although Fast food and convenience cooking has taken over our nation over the years, I think more recently there has been an increased WANT to cook.  I know lots of people who watch the food network and travel channel and have gotten inspired by the likes of Rachel Ray (yea I know...) and Anthony Bourdain.  I know more people on Pintrest looking up cupcake recipes than I do who play World of Warcraft.  I know more people constantly experimenting with dishes and cooking on their own time, all ages too! It may not be the masses yet, but it sure has grown.

To me, cooking is on the rise - not necessarily scratch cooking, but cooking non the less.


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

Okay, so can we get people to go from WANT to cook to really doing it?

They've watched, absorbed, dreamed, drooled; now they need to get into the kitchen and try it.

Even my "I can't boil water" husband has been watching these TV programs (he likes Anthony Bourdain, go figure) with me and now is finally interested in just _walking_ into the kitchen.


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## mrmexico25 (Jan 7, 2012)

Guys like Bourdain make cooking cool.  He points out how much of a bad ass you can feel like after a long dinner service.  It's good for the ego, and I think a lot of people are diving in!  A lot of people enroll in culinary school with ZERO experience too.  That's a good sign, even if they're clueless...


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## foodnfoto (Jan 1, 2001)

Never was an art. Cooking is a skilled craft. And no, it's not dying. It is as is always was-done very well by some, done badly by some others, not done at all by others who can afford to have it done for them, and done fairly adequately by those who choose to engage in it mindfully.


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

foodnfoto said:


> Never was an art. Cooking is a skilled craft. And no, it's not dying. It is as is always was-done very well by some, done badly by some others, not done at all by others who can afford to have it done for them, and done fairly adequately by those who choose to engage in it mindfully.


I like that, it says it all


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

kaneohegirlinaz said:


> I've been thinking about this topic recently and I was wondering
> 
> how many of the professional chefs out there are/have taught
> 
> their families/children to cook?


I come back to this thought over and over in my mind

as professionals, how many of you ensure that the art of cooking carries on?


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

At my age ,I try and impart all I have learned to the younger fellows that I work with. I even give the ones I really think are good my old cookbooks. Most of them are receptive and really want to learn, a few are not and I see iit right away. I can tell after a week who will last and who will not.Most time I hit it right on. I was very fortunate when I was younger working with all the European Pros. I learned a lot of things you will never see in books, like how and what to look for when buying meat and how to cut it. Throughout my life all I derived from these chefs has proven invaluable. I only hope I can do the same for this generation. To answer the question No cooking is not dying, it is however changing and keeping up with the technological age.


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

Chefed, you are truly a treasure

I think that this world is a much better place with you in it

Had I chosen a different path in life, I would like to think

that you would have mentored me 

Thank you for your contributions

I’m sure that some kid,

somewhere, at some time,

prepared a meal for me and they had you on their mind


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

kaneohegirlinaz said:


> So ChrisLehrer, which Chef's camp do you belong to?
> 
> Julia's, just do it
> 
> ...


I think Julia was in Jacques's camp, as am I. But her recipes were so extraordinarily well-tested and -written that she got turned into Ms. Recipe. In the end, it all comes down to technique: can you pick up ingredients, know your way around what is at least usually done with them, and go ahead and execute without constantly looking at some book or other? Cookbooks are wonderful, but if you're bound to them they become traps. Cookbooks are most useful when you're free of them, and then they provide all kinds of inspiration, ideas, and notions, as well as suggestions for raising the level of something you're working with. But you can't use a cookbook that way without technique.

I don't mean that you have to be a Pepin-style master of technique to do anything. I mean, can you cut up a chicken, prep a pile of vegetables and stuff you've got around, and make a decent saute or fricassee without constantly looking things up?

Everyone who can really cook has some techniques she or he knows cold. You don't look them up, you know them in your bones. And when faced with something in the kitchen, you just apply those techniques and it all works out fine. Once you have a few multipurpose techniques, you start expanding your repertoire depending on what you do a lot.

For example, I can't bake a cookie, brownie, pastry, or anything without looking stuff up. I just never do it, so I don't know how. I always have to look up the proportions for pate a choux, too, because I don't do it often enough to internalize it. But if you hand me a chicken, I can do all kinds of cool things with it, rapidly and cleanly, that make some friends of mine think I'm a culinary god. But some of them can bake cookies and cupcakes and stuff from scratch, no looking, and it all looks like so much mystery to me. I can break most fish from whole to skinless fillets (or whatever is desired) accurately enough to impress the heck out of some people. Why? I did it a lot in Japan, and I tried to learn it. And since my kids adore certain kinds of elementary, classic fish preparations -- meuniere, for instance -- I haven't looked at a recipe for that kind of thing in a looooong time. Why should I? And I can do a great sabayon-based sauce, or a rich brown pan sauce (with or without reductions), and so I use these as bases to play games with new sauces appropriate to what I'm doing right now. I'm no genius, but if you cook a lot, you really ought to learn some basics so you don't stay married to a book. Lately, my big thing is certain oddities in knife technique, but the principle remains.

Sorry. Rant off!


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

:chuckle:

No, chris, no rant, just every eloquently put and so true.

Even as a Home Expert, something's I do not need a book to execute

and then there others that I just have to look at my receipt  

and you're right, it's a matter of repetition


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Quote:


kaneohegirlinaz said:


> :chuckle:
> 
> No, chris, no rant, just every eloquently put and so true.
> 
> ...


Well, there's repetition and there's repetition. I've made enough pate a choux to know how to do it, but I always forget because I know where the recipes are. God knows I've made enough matzo balls to know, but again, I forget. Somehow numbers and quantities elude me in these things. But then there are things that you just kind of look at and know.

You know?


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Peppin, Franey. Bartenbach, Soltner, Meir, La Cren were all the Chefs of their generation. (60s )

It was Julia however that added humor and personality. They were all great and aquainted people via TV to what food was and took the mystique out of cooking.


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

ChrisLehrer said:


> Quote:
> 
> But then there are things that you just kind of look at and know.
> 
> You know?


YUP ! Sure do …


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

chefedb said:


> ...all the Chefs of their generation. (60s )
> 
> ...to what food was and took the mystique out of cooking.


...Chefed, I think you'd make a great TV teacher of food …


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Thank you but no thank you. I would wrather cook and experiment on my own then have a script pushed down my throat. I taught cooking in NYC school system for years and really enjoyed it. Then it all changed when the city or government in its wisdom figured  that if these kids are bad in an academic school, teach them cooking, auto mechanics, printing etc.

      Well they found out this did not work either They graduated cooks? that could not cook, auto mechanics that could not change a windshield wiper blade, and printers who could not even read or much less write, because to justify figures we had to move them forward It was a total fiasco. I exited fast and went into private school systems  to teach.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

chefedb said:


> Thank you but no thank you. I would wrather cook and experiment on my own then have a script pushed down my throat. I taught cooking in NYC school system for years and really enjoyed it. Then it all changed when the city or government in its wisdom figured that if these kids are bad in an academic school, teach them cooking, auto mechanics, printing etc.
> 
> Well they found out this did not work either They graduated cooks? that could not cook, auto mechanics that could not change a windshield wiper blade, and printers who could not even read or much less write, because to justify figures we had to move them forward It was a total fiasco. I exited fast and went into private school systems to teach.


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

Hailing from 2 European parents, we were taught to cook home made from scratch and we all knew the old Italian Adage: at the table, one is always happy and the way to a loved one´s heart, is through their stomach ... well, I have 2 brothers who cook from scratch and do it truly well too. I rarely open a can, except I do have a penchant for tuna in olive oil. However, that is a laboral weekday lunch and would never serve that to the Vet.

My grandmom on the paternal side owned a Trattoria and I had worked for her while in highschool and university -- so having a love of Italian cuisines, I learnt from her all I could and had inherited her recipes which I renovated and translated from Italian into English. During the laboral week, I do tend to have professional lunches out however, we enjoy our weekend home made from scracth meals ... and we each have our specialties. My job takes me to many kitchens and thus, I am always around food in one way or another. I have learnt something everyday from the chefs I have met and the trips I have taken. I enjoy a home made meal, however, not daily due to the time factor involved. I like the slow cooking movement ... relaxed and time to shop for the raw materials, another part of the scratch cooking process... retail therapy in a true sense ... I enjoy hunting for the products and seeing what each of the central markets have, each supermkt has, each deli, etcetra.

Both my daughters have their specialties as well and have learnt alot from their great grandmom and grandmom and myself as well as taking culinary courses as I have. Each one was a true wonderful experience. One of my nephews is a Chef, and one of my grandsons, likes to bake cookies !

Margcata.


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## luvpie (Jun 20, 2007)

Ishbel wrote "We (perhaps, luckily) don't have Walmart here."

yes true enough but you do have something very special that all good scratch cooks need.
Treacle and Lyles Golden Syrup


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Yes, you're right, LuvPie - and for which I give thanks on a weekly basis!

Couldn't make treacle tart without Golden Syrup (it actually doesn't contain treacle!) - and treacle adds great richness to things like sticky toffee pudding (invented in England in the Lake District, but I'll allow that to slide...)


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