I believe that cooking for someone constitutes one of the highest compliments you can pay: it is an act of love. I have a degree in culinary arts and have worked in the food business, but I find the greatest reward is found in providing wholesome home-cooked meals for family and friends.
Unfortunately, many people today have fallen out of the habit of cooking from scratch: browse through some websites where people post recipes and you're bound to find a huge number who consider "a can of this soup, a box of that mix" valid ingredients for cooking from scratch; many "make it in minutes" cookbooks are guilty of the same offense. The fact is, if you know some basic cooking techniques and formulas, you can cook meals truly from scratch, and with a bit of planning, you can do it in minutes on a weeknight.
I was fortunate to grow up in a home where every meal was made from scratch (an occasional can of soup being the exception). Having a family of my own now and being in contact with a lot of other parents, I am more fully aware of how many children don't grow up that way. My family has gradually moved away from almost all processed food and toward whole, close to the source ingredients - no, they didn't do it willingly, and it's still a work in progress - but I have discovered our health and nutritional status concurrently improving, so I just ignore the kicking and screaming and tell them, "When you do the shopping and the cooking, you can make those decisions!"
Over the past 5 years, I have increasingly become interested in the SOLE food movement, a straightforward explanation of which can be found at wiseGEEK:
Sustainable, Organic, Local, and Ethical (SOLE) food is part of a larger movement to change the way that people eat, and the sources of their food. Proponents believe that eating SOLE food will help people to live longer, healthier lives, and will also benefit the environment..... It is hoped that SOLE food will enhance our connection to the environment, food producers, and our food. Adherents of the SOLE food movement range from proponents of slow food worldwide to major corporations which are trying to change the way they care for their employees and the world.... SOLE food proponents believe that they will nourish their bodies and the environment in a healthy way. With rising concerns about food supplies, food contamination, and obesity, many consumers are turning to SOLE food to make changes in their lives, and in the way food is produced globally. It is also hoped that a growing demand for SOLE food will result in higher production and lower prices, making it accessible to all consumers, not merely the wealthy.
There is a fair amount of organic food bashing that goes on in the media, particularly during times of economic downturn (e.g. in this economy, why would you spend the extra money on organic food when the jury is still out on any solid evidence that it is better for you?), but from my own experience, I fall firmly on the side of purchasing the very best ingredients: why wouldn't you start from the very best you can afford? There are, after all, myriad ways to cut expenses from a food budget - the very first way to save is to stop purchasing highly processed food. Buying locally and seasonally is another way to boost your purchasing power. Ultimately, everyone must do what they can: if you can buy locally, but not necessarily organic, that too is a step in the right direction.
Simply: Home Cooking is then an attempt to share my discoveries about sourcing and cooking SOLE food and what it can do for health - the health of our bodies and minds, the environment around us, and ultimately the local economy.
Comments