In his book, Pollen sets out
to learn how to cook. He becomes the
student as experts show him the finer points of mastering some timeless culinary
skills. He makes several discoveries,
including just how pleasurable it can be to cook. Reflecting on the 8,000+ dinners I have cooked over the years, I can relate to his description of himself,
"I have always cooked, but I've always
approached it with a great deal of impatience, and always kind of fought against
it."
However, now he approaches
cooking with a very different spirit. He
slows down, enjoys it more, and squeezes more out of the experience.
Cooked is an argument for making the choice to cook (versus
relying on the food industry to do the cooking for us.). The argument for cooking can be made on many
levels. On one level are health reasons.
"There is something inherent in the process of
cooking that will drive you toward using better ingredients - not using too much salt, fat and sugar."
"I'm convinced that the most important thing you
can do if you're concerned about your kids' health is teach them how to
cook. It's a life-long skill that will
do more to assure their long-term health and happiness than just about anything
else you can give them."
Best of all, Pollan offers hope in reclaiming cooking as a pleasure, rather than a common perception that cooking is drudgery, and perhaps even daunting.
To be honest, on some days
as dinner time approaches, I simply do not want to stop what I'm doing to make
dinner. After a day of work, I might
rather be reading, playing a game of croquet or badminton with the kids in the
backyard, catching up with family or friends, gardening, or writing. These activities feel good and replenish my
sense of well-being. Forcing myself to
switch gears to the kitchen and enter dinner preparation mode brings to mind
the familiar bumper sticker, "I'd rather be....[fill in the blank with
anything but cooking]."
How would life be different
if I, too (like Michael Pollan), discovered that cooking is one of the most
worthwhile and interesting ways to spend my time?
I
wonder... exactly what is needed to reclaim cooking as a pleasure, and to teach
our children the life-long skill of cooking?
I believe it begins with me,
in my own "backyard", so to speak. Things like challenging myself to venture
outside of my comfort zone to learn and practice new cooking skills. Things like practicing mindfulness skills (being more in the
present moment as I cook). Maybe even a
little attitude adjustment. Throw in some fun! With these fix-ups, I am
likely to be a more effective teacher for my children. After all, more is caught than taught,
especially when it comes to the joy of cooking. Can I rise to the challenge?
Can the children rise to the
challenge?
"...if I
treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become
that." (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe). I believe the answer is "yes".
I have people in my life who
inspire me (merely through their living example) to approach cooking with
confidence and a spirit of adventure. As
Pollan learned, cooking is not that hard. Maybe cooking has more to do with one's mindset.
Maybe it really boils down
to - how much do I value cooking? Now there's something
worth chewing on.
In the mean time, summer is
around the corner. What better time is
there than now, to engage the family in cooking dinner? I will put on my thinking cap to devise a plan for my
approach to reclaim cooking as pleasure, and to teach my children the life-long
skill of cooking. Stay tuned for an
actionable plan.
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