Food, Glorious Food

I read Michael Ruhlman’s blog about cooking, and you should, too. A couple of days ago he posted a question on Twitter, asking others why they cook. The answers are inspiring; so, duly inspired, I ask you to blog about the same.

In the foreword to M.F.K. Fisher’s Measure of My Powers: The Gastronomical Me, she writes that people often ask her why she writes about cooking—implying that she should be devoting her brainpower to seemingly worthier, more serious topics. (Keep in mind this was 1942.) Read through Ruhlman’s blog, in which he outlines some of the reasons why he cooks, and the comments from some of his readers.

I asked you during the first week of the semester, if you can cook and if you do cook, but we never got into the why. I would like you to write this week about why you cook, if you do. Answering the question why may require you to explain how you came to cooking. If, however, you don’t feel as though you have enough of a facility with cooking yet to answer that question, examine why that is so. What holds you back, other than practical concerns of not having a stocked kitchen at your disposal? If you feel you cannot sufficiently answer the question of why you cook, answer this one: Why do you eat? Yes, you eat because you are hungry, but go beyond that. Think about all the possible reasons and situations that result in eating.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.