On Slowing Down to Cook
December 05, 2024 at 01:50AMDays filled with work and commitments often make it hard to prepare home-cooked meals. At Current Affairs, Lily Sánchez recalls the watermellon scent of freshly cut cucumber and the tactile and olfactory pleasures of preparing a simple salad, juxtaposed with scarfing tasteless, pre-packaged fruit during her medical training. Preparing food takes effort and precious time. But are we missing out on the full pleasures of eating when we favor convenience over homemade? Sánchez suggests that the joy of cooking is not all in the eating, it’s also in paying attention to the sensory pleasures of preparation.
I discovered that cooking always lifted my mood. The sights, sounds, smells, and textures of cooking were therapeutic; the transformation of ingredients from raw to cooked involves lots of sensory cues, too (greens wilt down, sauteed garlic smells tamer and takes on a golden hue, and with baking, a bunch of powders and liquids turn into magnificent cakes and cookies). And at the end of it all, I could get nourishment… and leftovers! Plus, cooking is a great way to nourish and take care of others around you. Sharing (and photographing and admiring) a home-cooked meal is immensely satisfying. (Never underestimate, either, the joy you can bring to office coworkers by sharing your own baked goods. Whenever I baked for my coworkers, they rushed to the break room and lit up with a smile as they reached for a cookie.)
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/12/04/on-slowing-down-to-cook/
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