The pleasure of cooking

A while back I read an article in which someone complained about how television had been invaded by an endless number of cooking shows and that there was a whole movement dedicated to food and eating which he didn’t understand. I find it perfectly natural and healthy for the collective human psyche.

If we watch the news or open a newspaper on any given day, we will be overwhelmed by catastrophes, tragedies, death, etc. Today, for example, we can find news regarding unstoppable crime everywhere, corruption at government and high-office levels, protests around the world for innumerable reasons, war and death, immigrants who risk their lives and walk endless miles to escape their war-torn countries, industrial dishonesty, countries that are facing being separated and dismembered, world-heritage historical monuments that are blown to pieces, the destruction of our environment (and we’re being offered water in Mars instead), and I could go on for hours.

As far as I can see, the opposite to this grief and despair, for an ordinary everyday person, is to cook. To prepare food and to feed those we love is something that must be ingrained in our genes, DNA and collective memory. This activity allows us to create, offer, share. To be able to take ingredients and prepare a meal is gratifying; it’s good for your spirit.

If we don’t actually have the time to go into the kitchen and dedicate ourselves to this activity, we enjoy it vicariously through the many cooks whose television shows we watch. We then go out and buy their books, imagining that someday we’ll go to the kitchen and prepare something. I have my favorite television cooking friends and I would like to thank them for the most enjoyable time I have spent watching and learning from them: Karlos Arguiñano, Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, Gastón Acurio, Nigel Slater… my gratitude to them and to all the other cooks and chefs (whichever they prefer to be called) who are constantly sharing their knowledge with us.