Cooking Individually: Extending My Culinary Reach
Completed as of November 11, 2020
The oil on the pan starts to pop and sizzle. The sauce has been butchered, the vegetables are under seasoned, and the dishes are piled up to the ceiling. Finally, the chicken can be placed onto the searing hot pan. While that turns out okay, if not a little poorly breaded. As the food is plated, it’s not the most attractive sight. Slightly stiff noodles, relatively bland broccoli, decent garlic bread and chicken, topped with a ruined red sauce. The final product is mediocre.
After a showing like that, I knew that I needed to up my game – big time. I figured that I needed to do some research on things to make and techniques to use. I found a YouTuber that made a variety of cooking tutorials, ranging from amateur to expert level. Some of these were a bit beyond me, just because of advanced techniques and tools, but others seemed well within my grasp. I spent a lot of the time we had stuck at home watching this person’s tutorials and trying to find one that was reasonable to attempt. By early June, I had found one for fried chicken and mashed potatoes that seemed simple enough. I got together some willing friends and we got to work on it.
With his series being known as “Binging with Babish”, Andrew Rea hosts a variety of dishes in his home kitchen. He will find foods from popular culture and make a faithful replica of it in real life. He also has a series called “Basics with Babish”, where he makes more general food, not necessarily from a movie or show. The videos’ tutorial-like nature and his charisma make for an informal and pleasant viewing experience. It was helpful to have a go-to source for recipes and tutorials to prepare a meal. The next cooking trial was ready to go because of Rea’s content.
The oil in the pot starts to bubble. The potatoes are creamy and aromatic, and the vegetables are beautifully roasted. The chicken is placed in the boiling oil, forcing a lot of action in the pot. A couple of minutes pass, and the breading is cohesive and perfectly browned. A taste test is had on this one piece of chicken, only leading to happiness from the chefs. We have fried chicken tenders, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted garlic Parmesan broccoli, and honey butter biscuits available. Once plated up, a rush of optimism enters me. The final product is a delicious plate of food.
I have had a successful cooking experience, however, I had two friends as crutches. It was time I did a solo project in the kitchen. I returned to the internet in search of something to make all by myself. I figured a simpler meal with less individual projects would be a wise choice, for I wouldn’t have to be jumping all over the place to make it. Something simpler was found – a good recipe for burgers and fries.
It’s important to cooperate with others, and that’s something that was very important in the cooking experiences prior. However, cooperation, in some cases, can impede one’s progress. It made it harder to improve due to a reliance on peers. One friend was an experienced cook, able to consistently cook good meals. The other had a lesser amount of experience but could still find his way around a kitchen. Either way, it led to less of a learning experience. In the next trial, it was to be a fully individual job.
The skillet gets hot, as does the fryer. The burger mixture has been put together and the potatoes have been peeled and cut. I toss them into the fryer and put the patties onto the hot skillet. When the burgers have been flipped once and cook all the way through, I keep them warm in a low oven. In the meantime, I toast the buns and prepare toppings. The fries are done shortly thereafter. At last, everything is complete, and I didn’t rely on other people. The final product is real satisfaction.
One must wonder why that satisfaction is prevalent. I think it may come from the human requirement to be sustained by food. When we make that, and see that other people enjoy it, it’s like we have made living better. Doing some research about enjoying cooking, I found an article about the psychological benefits of making a meal for others. It explains that cooking is a form of nurturing, and it further supports the point I have made about it. “our feeling of fulfillment comes not only from the good of the act of giving, but also the fact that we have ‘helped’ in some very primal way. We have given fuel" (Thomson). It proves that making food isn’t just something to enjoy, but can provide a feeling unlike any other.
In addition to its psychological effect, it's been proven that if you learn to cook at home, you can save both the financial and caloric pitfalls of eating out. A piece published by Harvard Health references the word of Dr. David Eisenberg. Eisenberg works at the Department of Nutrition at Harvard. In the article, Eisenberg says, "[Cooking] can drastically improve your health and is more fun and cheaper than eating out" (Eisenberg). The article then goes onto discuss the decrease in consumed calories, fat, and sugar that correlates with cooking at home. It's not just a matter of opinion, it's (generally) true that making home cooked meals is not only easier on your wallet, but also is more nutritious. In short, it's just about the amount of effort the potential chef is willing to put in.
Works Cited
Publishing, Harvard Health. “Get Cooking at Home.” Harvard Health, Feb. 2017, www.health.harvard.edu/nutrition/get-cooking-at-home.
Thomson, Julie R. “The Very Real Psychological Benefits Of Cooking For Other People.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 17 Oct. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/benefits-of-cooking-for-others_n_5967858ae4b0a0c6f1e67a15.