What does the word cooking mean to you? Does it mean you need a sharp chef's knife? A good saucepan? Salts and seasonings and herbs? What if someone told you there are no rules, that cooking can happen anywhere, anytime?
Last week, Brian Palmer wrote a piece for Slate on "guerilla cooking," a form of cooking that is highly portable, creative and industrious. It involves you putting together interesting meals regardless of whether you're in your own kitchen or a cramped office space.
So how exactly would one put together an enticing lunch in an office space that boasts, at most, a random collection of plastic utensils? Palmer notes, "Just as you can sleep wherever you happen to be tired, you can cook anywhere so long as you have the essentials (food, heat)." He encourages you to stock up on basics like salt, pepper and olive oil and find a few essential, portable pieces of cooking equipment such as a hot plate and a hot water kettle. Then you're pretty much set. Stir-fries, soups, frittatas and quesadillas are now at your fingertips, and Palmer insists you should flex your creativity muscles beyond even that.
He is realistic, noting that guerilla cooking takes a certain amount of preparation and thought. For example, his favorite office couscous requires him to put a few bags together before work: one consists of the couscous and whatever herbs and spices he'd like and the other consists of the vegetables he'd like to add in, with a third optional bag of toasted nuts. Then, he insists that the on-site preparation is a breeze. Palmer cooks the vegetables and the couscous and, voila: "A fresh lunch in the privacy of your own office."
Read More: You Don't Need a Kitchen To Be a Chef at Slate
Related: Office Lunch Survival Kit: 6 Essentials to Keep at the Office
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We're lucky to have an almost full kitchen at work with two refrigerators, two microwaves, a toaster, two coffee machines and two toaster ovens, plus all other utensils and tools that we'd need in a decent kitchen, like utensils, knives, flatware, cutting boards, colanders, everything!
Sometimes I make my lunch at work. I bring what I need to make my meal for that day and proceed to rinse, chop or cut, mix my dressings, microwave something or warm/bake it. I don't know if that constitutes as guerrilla cooking, but anyway, I always look forward to lunch at work. Some of my coworkers probably fall under guerrilla cooking styles. I'm thinking of two in particular that really make great use out of everything in the kitchen. Someone baked fish the other day. Someone else made themselves shrimp in the toaster oven too. It's just so cool and inspiring!
I'm all for making the most of what's available to you. :-)
We watched a great British show (maybe Jamie Oliver) where the hosts visited a chilly beach in the U.K., started a fire pit and whipped up some potato cakes with algae they have gathered from the sea. I wish I could have tried it.
Ew.. someone baked fish and shrimp in your office? The downside to that type of guerrilla cooking is the smell factor. It may be great for you, but I don't want to have to smell your food for the rest of the day....
I don't know what kind of fish you've walked into, but personally, I think the smell of fish cooking is just as good as meat on the grill.
During architecture school, I brought a rice cooker to drafting studio to, (of course) make rice and warm up leftovers. The sounds and smells drove everyone around me nuts. Not sure I'd inflict it on others again.
a hot plate in my office would be banned outright.
This is more of a comment on the original article, but here goes:
I'm all for cooking at the office, but the term "guerrilla cooking" cheapens both guerrillas and cooks. Let's just call it "cooking at the office," shall we?
"A fresh lunch in the privacy of your own office."
It's nice that he has his own office, but most of us are in cube farms and we all seem to share some kind of a kitchen.
I do some form of guerilla cooking at work too (usually scrambled or poached eggs using the microwave), but I'm also mindful that I'm not the only person occupying the air space. While I love seafood, the smell of it can linger for a loooong time and stale seafood does not smell wonderful (even to me). Ditto with popcorn.
We're calling this type of cooking "guerilla cooking"? Seriously? Good grief.
I assembled a gluten-free sunflower seed butter and banana wrap on the bus ride home from work last week. Used my lap as a table/cutting board. Awkward and messy, but I was STARVING and there was a LOT of traffic. Good thing I had brought extra food with me that day!
I've seen people bake cookies in the toaster oven at work. The smell makes everyone happy and the cookies are always shared. It's a nice pick-me-up!
I don't know where the person who wrote this article works, but I don't know anybody who has time to do more than heat food up, or do some basic assembling, at the office.
Washing/chopping/cooking vegetables would be out of the question, for reasons of both time and space (other people needing to use a shared kitchen).
I poach eggs in our office microwave all the time and use them to top asparagus or other seasonal vegetables I've given a quick roast in the toaster oven. Way better than a Lean Cuisine.
I work from home so.... :)