It's been a minute since I've done a solo commentary (other people are more awesome!) so switching things up a bit this time around. I recently spoke at my day job about my work around food: why people should cook and how we can start cooking. I cover the things I've done to make cooking easier, more fun, and more effective personally and during our Hidden Apron dinners. A lot of the ideas here are not original at all but I think many of them often get overlooked for flashier "cooking show" content that isn't designed to set up beginners and busy folk for success in their kitchens. If you've always wanted to start cooking but find it too daunting/difficult/unnecessary, listen on as I touch on everything from:
- Why we eat the way we eat in America
- The bare minimum kitchen essentials (emphasis on minimum)
- The problem with how recipes are written today and the ONE recipe you need
- A different (read: more fundamental) way to look at cooking
- Tackling the weekly dinner
HIGHLIGHTS & LINKS
7:30 On industry and marketing’s influence on dining, the invention of “Lunch”, and the rise of “Dinner"
13:00 The benefits of cooking: on deceptive food, the irrationality of food marketing, the Pizza law, how cheap food is not really cheap, and how you can save the planet
21:25 Why you STILL won’t cook: no skills, no time,
24:55 Key Principle: Flexibility in Equipment, Ingredient, and Ability
25:25 On equipment
30:00 On spices and flavorings
32:20 The one “recipe” you need + on shitty recipes
35:40 On margins of error for technique, equipment, and skill in recipes
38:20 On margins of error for ingredients
39:40 An example: Adobo, Feijoada, Daal Makhni, Sukiyaki Ramen, Corned Beef & Cabbage
42:20 Another example: The Chopped “Mystery Basket"
44:10 On precise measurements
45:50 On common challenges and ways to get around them
49:10 On cooking in “blocks"
Books:
The Four-Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss (methodology, curriculum, technique)
The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt (technique, ingredients, science)
Three Squares by Abigail Carroll (American history)
Anything by Michael Pollan (food systems, history, culture)
Shows:
America's Test Kitchen, Good Eats with Alton Brown (recipes, techniques)
Auntie Fee (just watch it...especially her "Baked Chicken" and "Dumb Good Mac n' Cheese")
Websites/Blogs/Online:
Serious Eats (everything....seriously....everything)
Food52 (community, recipes)
Summer Tomato / Foodist by Darya Rose (neuroscience, psychology, habits)
FoodPairing, Blog.Khymos (flavor pairings)