I heard the fabulous Michael Ruhlman speak at Blogher Food 2010 in San Francisco last year. He was inspiring, honest and accessible. His love of, and knowledge of, food is vast. A couple years ago, Ruhlman wrote a piece on his blog outlining all of the reasons he cooks. He encouraged others to do so as well. Here’s my go at it.
Why do I cook? Well, as Ruhlman stated, in this day and age, it is self-defense. Goodness only knows what is added to our food these days. I’m a control freak. I like to know what I’m putting into my body. That’s a great reason to cook.
Like Ruhlman (he states he began cooking at age 9), I began cooking as a child. When I was in the 4th grade, I recall coming home everyday for lunch, turning on the electric pullout stove in our kitchen and frying up a kosher beef frank –that would be called a hotdog nowadays. My parents both worked full time and I learned to take care of myself early on.
By 5th grade we had moved to a new house around the corner. We had a yellow enamel gas stove. I came home from school for lunch almost every day and opened up a can of re-fried beans, heated them, then grated orange cheddar cheese on top. By high school, all of my friends came over for lunch just about everyday. I made them brown rice with refried beans, salsa and cheese. I also loved to bake cookies (they were not the gluten free kind in those days, prior to my celiac diagnosis). By the time I was a junior in high school I baked chocolate chip cookies and sold them at the tennis club where I taught tennis lessons. I was a busy girl back then!
I still love to cook. My two sons, as well as all of the boys in our neighborhood come to my house when they want to create a special baked good. Last week it was gluten free organic ice cream cake that the gang and I made from scratch. Sometimes it’s cookies, chocolate bark or cupcakes. Other days it’s salad. The gang loves my gluten free Asian Salad Dressing and gobbles down all of their salad when I serve this dressing over greens. I love baking with the boys, and feeding them, it is so much fun!
Like Ruhlman, I cook now because:
-I find it relaxing and meditative
-Cooking is great physical activity after hours of reading, researching, and writing
-I like to eat fresh, wholesome food
-It’s a way for me to give to family and friends
-I’m a Jewish mother so it is impossible not to (we like to feed people)
-It reminds me of good times in the kitchen with my mother and my bubby
Some reasons not to cook:
-I don’t have time
-I don’t know how
-I’m tired
According to Ruhlman:
“All of these are perfectly adequate reasons not to cook. I sometime use them myself. But they’re not reasons to never cook. The only good reasons never to cook are these: cooking gives me no pleasure, and eating doesn’t either. (This is genuinely the case for some people, and I’ll lay odds they’re not reading this post). Fast food is cheaper than fresh food and, as I am at the poverty level, I have little choice. (The saddest reason of all, and yet another reason for those who can cook, to cook. The more people who buy good food help to lower the price of that food through demand.)”
First, so many thanks go to Michael Ruhlman for all of his wisdom and inspiration –he’s a great teacher when it comes to food and cooking.
Now it’s time for me to get back to the kitchen. I’m going to be making a yummy chicken stew since it’s so cold outside, and some delicious gluten free cake pops since the Super Bowl is coming up! What are you going to make?
Gail says
I love to cook as I, like most of you, want to control what I am putting into my body.
I would like to learn more about exchanging flours/recipe writing and being able to exchange some of the items in my old non gluten-free recipes to make them gluten-free recipes.
Can you provide some references on where I can go to start to learn how you bloggers do this kind of thing?
This could be a new book idea for you Elana.
Thanks again.
Michelle says
http://www.livingwithout.com/resources/substitutions.html
Scroll down to “gluten free flour substitutions.”
AndreAnna from Liife as A Plate says
I cook for a lot of the same reasons as well. For me, as an editor, I deal with clean-cut answers/grammar every day and cooking and creating new recipes is my creative outlet, my art.
Plus, like you, I like knowing each ingredient going in my body and nourishing my family with wholesome food.
sas says
today I’m making a pumpkin soup as well as Cat Cora’s Spinach Paella (I’ve never made paella before so this might be interesting…).
Kate says
I’ve never understood the excuse that poverty is a reason not to cook. I’m impoverished and if I didn’t cook from scratch we wouldn’t have enough to eat! My daughter and I cannot have gluten or dairy, and the store bought things are SO expensive, so we make our own…which taste better anyway. I feed three people on $363 a month in food stamps by cooking every day. We do not even partake in the school lunch program, as I have invested in a 3-tier tiffin and stuff it with healthy foods. Where there is a will, there’s a way!
And I love to cook- because I know I’m giving my family a fair shot at a healthy lifestyle <3
Laura says
Today, I’m slow cooking beef ribs. They’re going into my oven soon and we’ll have them for dinner. I cooked beef ribs last week, too, and then made a wonderful stew with the leftover rib meat and bone broth. So nice this time of year with the darkness ( no sunlight) at dinnertime and the cold temps to have a hearty stew. I plan to make some nice GF bread to go along with it. I cook mainly out of necessity. My daughter and I are both gluten intolerant and my daughter also has corn and milk allergies. I have to cook. At first, I didn’t like it, and even resented it a little, but now I really enjoy getting in the kitchen and coming up with ways to make a ‘normal’ meal gluten free. By the way, I did this with Dorie Greenspans recipe posted on her website for “French” apple pie. I substitued regular flour for almond flour and it was fantastic! Because we were having company over, I left the high amount of sugar in the recipe, but next time I make it I’ll use stevia. I’ve made apple pies with stevia and you can’t even tell the difference! Thanks, Elana, for this great website and all the time you put into it. Much appreciated!
Anne says
I am interested in learning how to cook and bake with stevia instead of sugar. Is there any site that explains how to do so?
Hilary Day says
I like your story about the beef franks. Those are a lot different than regular hot dogs because of the red dye in many brands of hotdogs. As a child I would come home sick every time my older brother and I went to the movies. It took years before we realized it was the hotdogs! – not the movies.
AnneKD says
I’m so thankful that my mom cooks from scratch and passed along that interest to me. It’s something we share now, we’ll talk about menus and stuff. I like not having to depend on some big company’s idea of what tastes good. I know what’s in our meals, my vegetarian husband doesn’t worry about whether something is ‘contaminated’ with meat, I don’t worry about whether something is contaminated with gluten. I don’t have to eat chemicals that I can pronounce only because I took organic chemistry in college. Cooking is relaxing for me also and makes my brain work along with my hands- an important part of how my creativity works.
We’re not doing anything special for the Super Bowl, but I have been baking more lately. When it snows our neighbor plows us out, and I bake cookies or muffins or whatever for him to pay him back. Works out well for both of us.
Meagan says
I liked this post. It made me think of a stupid question… do you speak any Yiddish?
Marie says
Why do I cook? My reasons would be the same as yours, Elana. It’s for health, food safety, social times, and even to save money. I live in a town where a meal out with any “extras” like coffee, dessert, appetizer can run up a huge bill. I can do all that at home for much less.
Inviting people in to share a visit around food is so rewarding as you meld friendships and share from the heart. I don’t cook elaborate meals, but I try to make them, for adults, almost like a restaurant experience with soup, salad, entree, fruit dessert, and coffee. Maybe even a very light wine. Everything is simple and make ahead. For kids, I serve buffet style in rectangular dishes that go from oven to table.
And, I treat my own body well. I never eat sloppily, a lesson I learned from reading about French culture. I know the nutritional value of food, and nourish my body well. And that pays huge dividends. One of my little secrets is to never bring into the house a food I know is over processed, full of chemicals, or just not full of goodness.
Thanks again for all you do for us.
The Teenie Foodie says
This is such an inspiring post Elana, and is encouraging to cook even more now! It’s great that you started so young. I agree with what Ruhlman says about never cooking, my brother is just like that.. too lazy to cook, but I think also a reason is that some are a little scared if they have never cooked before and can’t be bothered to clean up the mess!
I also cook to relax and have fun, but also because I like to know what I put into my food, and ensure that it is all natural and organic. Also I think when you cook yourself, you put the love into it… sounds corny but I hate buying food from big chains where I don’t know who/how they made it!
Post up the cake pops please!
Teenie Foodie