Cooking as a Craft

Learn to Cook, we should. It's that simple. It is important for us to learn this basic craft for our health and for our pocketbook. I have recently been thinking about the lost art of craftsmanship in so much of our current hurry-up, throw away society.. Many of us think about woodworkers, silversmiths or artists as craftspeople, but there is craft involved in anything you attempt to do well, including cooking. Most importantly, there is a great deal of personal satisfaction in the process of becoming good at something. Notice how I said process. Cooking is a craft, and can be an art. The amount of time that you spend teaching yourself how to make basic foods becomes an adventure and improves your cooking craftiness. If you don't know where to start, get a book on basic cooking from your library and read the recipes. Reading recipes teaches that certain cooking techniques and processes can be lumped together. It helps you organize your thoughts and understand the processes involved in cooking. This is the craft. If you don't like to read, ask a friend who cooks to show you how to make a white sauce, boil noodles or saute vegetables. Anything you cook that does not come out of a box or a package can improve your health and improves your process; your personal cooking craft. Who knows, your cooking may even turn into your art!

Marty