In article <[email hidden]>,
Monsur Fromage du Pollet said:In my case I cook to express myself. I can't sing, dance, or draw. Any
fool can open a box from the freezer and nuke it. So it isn't to
survive. As is quite apparent I express myself poorly and can't spell
worth a damn.Cooking is kinda my imagination's way of escaping without any social
disproval or getting arrested. It's a socially excepted release for my
pent up feelings, I guess. All I need to cook is ingredients (like
somebody's paints), a little discipline (no don't add icream to that
salad) and a rough idea of want I want to create (no fool you can't
make a blueberry and steak buckle).What's your reason to cook?
Several, most of which have been mentioned by others.
Cost. It's much cheaper to put a complete meal together at home than it
is to buy it at a restaurant.
Control. Years ago I cooked for my grandfather, who needed to be on a
low-sodium diet. I can control the amount of salt, sugar, fat, and
additives in my food by cooking it myself.
Creativity. I've been known to pull together dinners out of whatever I
have on hand, without regard to a recipe. Most of the time they come
out fine. Since I know the science of why ingredients do what they do
in response to heat or other manipulation, I can make adaptations in
cooking and in baking.
Challenge. Sometimes we'll have something at a restaurant and we try to
figure out how to make it at home. Sometimes we come close to or
surpass the original recipe. Other times, as in the case of the clams
with black bean sauce, we have to keep experimenting.
Culture. One way to learn about other peoples is to cook their food.
Good ethnic cookbooks give you a glimpse of lives along with cuisine.
Cindy
--
C.J. Fuller
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