Really enjoyed this! My motivation for cooking is not dissimilar - I find it empowering to not have to rely on modern conveniences (well, leaving aside such frivolities such as electricity, running water, a stove etc) but to know I can turn a bunch of ingredients into a tasty and nutritious meal from scratch, that I can turn water and flour into a leaven and bake bread (and that I can take some wool and some needles and fashion a blanket or some simple items of clothing). I find in many ways this modern world we live in while making our lives easier also makes us more dependent - I find it empowering to claim back some independence and know that I could cope without convenience foods!
Ah, thank you Sophia. It probably sounds silly but a particular habit I have with breadmaking is to forgo any measurements and go simply by eye and feel. Thanks for leaving your thoughts. Lovely to read.
I really enjoyed this piece Will. It echoes so much of what I feel and try to do. I never use ready meals but always cook from scratch . Don’t have air fryer or such. Use my oven and grill and hob instead. Make bread and cakes hardly ever following a recipe exactly if I know roughly what I want something to taste like. I spun, crochet, knit, dye yarn and fibre. In my 8th decade I still want to do things as I feel they should be done. I follow the wheel of the year and like to say hello to the moon each night if she is visible. I use home made tinctures and oils to help our healing. But also use a computer and a phone. Maybe best of both worlds? The iPad means I can read while knitting and crocheting as I don’t need to hold a book.
I really appreciate this, thank you. You know, one of my favourite games with my kids is who can find the moon first. Little things I suppose bring much joy.
More generally, what I'd suggest is that if we look through history, we find that homes used to be places of production, not merely consumption. People grew their food, of course, but also grew flax and wool, and spun threads and wove cloth and sewed quilts and made clothing. They built furniture and shod horses and hung doors. They made things with their hands.
With the industrial revolution taking this manufacturing away from the home and into factories, people ceased making things - except making dinner. So the wistfulness you feel at people losing cooking is wistfulness at the loss of the last tangible product of the household - the finished meal.
I failed (well got a D) in my geography GCSE for a very similar bike related incident. Not held me back in life. I do occasionally pluck a pheasant, but often the amount of meat we get of it, it's not worth it so I just cut out the breast meat & keep the bones & legs for stock.
Really enjoyed this! My motivation for cooking is not dissimilar - I find it empowering to not have to rely on modern conveniences (well, leaving aside such frivolities such as electricity, running water, a stove etc) but to know I can turn a bunch of ingredients into a tasty and nutritious meal from scratch, that I can turn water and flour into a leaven and bake bread (and that I can take some wool and some needles and fashion a blanket or some simple items of clothing). I find in many ways this modern world we live in while making our lives easier also makes us more dependent - I find it empowering to claim back some independence and know that I could cope without convenience foods!
Ah, thank you Sophia. It probably sounds silly but a particular habit I have with breadmaking is to forgo any measurements and go simply by eye and feel. Thanks for leaving your thoughts. Lovely to read.
I really enjoyed this piece Will. It echoes so much of what I feel and try to do. I never use ready meals but always cook from scratch . Don’t have air fryer or such. Use my oven and grill and hob instead. Make bread and cakes hardly ever following a recipe exactly if I know roughly what I want something to taste like. I spun, crochet, knit, dye yarn and fibre. In my 8th decade I still want to do things as I feel they should be done. I follow the wheel of the year and like to say hello to the moon each night if she is visible. I use home made tinctures and oils to help our healing. But also use a computer and a phone. Maybe best of both worlds? The iPad means I can read while knitting and crocheting as I don’t need to hold a book.
I really appreciate this, thank you. You know, one of my favourite games with my kids is who can find the moon first. Little things I suppose bring much joy.
A movingly-written piece.
More generally, what I'd suggest is that if we look through history, we find that homes used to be places of production, not merely consumption. People grew their food, of course, but also grew flax and wool, and spun threads and wove cloth and sewed quilts and made clothing. They built furniture and shod horses and hung doors. They made things with their hands.
With the industrial revolution taking this manufacturing away from the home and into factories, people ceased making things - except making dinner. So the wistfulness you feel at people losing cooking is wistfulness at the loss of the last tangible product of the household - the finished meal.
I failed (well got a D) in my geography GCSE for a very similar bike related incident. Not held me back in life. I do occasionally pluck a pheasant, but often the amount of meat we get of it, it's not worth it so I just cut out the breast meat & keep the bones & legs for stock.
enjoyed this read + refreshing to learn about the life of a chef. Very faraway for me (I write about comedy)