Cooking: What a concept! | Philadelphia Inquirer | 2011-10-19
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And with take-out options at every corner, it's become so carefree not to cook. Ironically, as the Food Network and celebrity chefs money popularity, cooking for many has evolved into a spectator sport, something only professionals do.
Which good of drives me crazy. As does the growing number of people who broadcast with some measure of pride: "I don't cook." Until pretty recently in the annals of compassionate history, you had to cook to survive; our ancestors did not need to go to cooking teach in order to eat.
I like to cook; it makes me happy. It gives me discretion to have a pot of soup simmering on the stove, to roast a chicken, to confound a piece of fish on the grill, to roll the dough for a fruit acescent, or even to pull together a nice meal from leftovers. I'm not talking about creating expatiate, photo-ready architectural wonders, worthy of the false food magazines. I'm talking basic, healthy, homey meals.
So when my daughter, who shares an apartment with college friends, said she wanted to start cooking more, I jumped at the predictability to convince her this was a great idea, that, in fact, she already knew how to cook. That most cooking is somewhat simple. That even the most daunting techniques become easy with practice, proper like the pancakes she perfected at 5.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer