I started to take an online quiz the other day but stopped short when it asked me what kind of cook I thought I was. My choices were something like Generous (enthusiastic and sharing), Methodical (likes long, complex kitchen projects), Innovative (goes for the new and unusual), Competitive (into impressing and being the best, having the best), Healthy (interested in freshness and nutrition). I was only allowed to pick one but what I ended up clicking on was the button to take me away from the quiz. Each choice was both too much and not enough, and the idea of choosing just one was frustrating.
Of course, online quizzes aren't the best place to look for your true self, that much has been obvious to me since my pre-teen years when I would steal my mother's Cosmopolitan magazines and secretly take the romantic compatibility tests. But sometimes those quizzes do ask questions that lead one to a deeper consideration. How would I describe myself as a cook? What kind of cook am I?
It didn't take long for me to discover that in no way was I just one kind of cook. In fact, looking back on that list (generous, innovative, competitive, healthy, methodical) I would've had to click all five choices if I were to be perfectly honest and would probably need several other choices if I really wanted to present a complete picture. (Lazy, meandering, romantic, practical, curious, and accident prone come immediately to mind.)
But thinking about it even further, the list expands and lengthens because on some days I'm a confident expert, knowing exactly what I am doing and on others, I haven't a clue. Sometimes I'm the kind of cook who has crackers and cheese for dinner and on others, it's an elaborate soup with fresh baked bread and a garlicky side salad. Yes, Mr Whitman, I do indeed contradict myself. Yes I am large, and yes, I contain multitudes.
While it's very important to know ourselves, to be aware of our strengths and weaknesses, we also have to be careful not to limit ourselves by our own stories. Declaring yourself to be an impatient cook and therefore not suited for bread making or too clumsy of a cook to bone a fish may be (somewhat) true but it's also true that you can be an impatient bread maker and let the bread making teach you patience, or allow the fishbones to show you grace. In other words, don't let your stories stop you from trying something new, something outside of your usual patterns. Don't let your ideas about who you are dictate who you are.
I leave you with a challenge: do something against your character today. Try being the kind of cook you're not. Allow yourself to be sloppy if you're neat, or dabble in modernist cuisine if you're usually all about the roast chicken and bread salad. Think you're a baker and not a cook? Then it's Bouillabaisse for you today! Do you never measure anything? Then find a recipe and follow it exactly. Watch what comes up for you when your stories arise and watch what happens when you let them go. Notice where there's freedom. Do you find it in the story or is it in what happens when you let the story go?
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(Image: Dana Velden)
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I love this article and feel as though I could have written this myself. I can find identity in each of these traits, as well. Any given day I could claim a different one. My behavior in the kitchen definitely varies with days of the week (and time of the month). I am always eager to try something new or learn a new skill. The food blogs that I follow are always full of great ideas and recipes.
Omg u always inspire me,,.:)
What a great reminder this AM.. Not just for cooking, but all areas of my life. Thanks Dana.
Like @Swhite0212 I go through phases of each type... However as a rule I am the baker in the house, and my wife is the cook. And coincidentally this weekend we've swapped roles a bit! As you say, it's always good to try something you don't normally do.
Most of the time I'm an efficient cook due to family and time constraints and cook from a selection of favorites, but on the weekends, I mix it up and try new techniques and tastes which get folded back into new favorites. Good advice for all aspects of your life, really.
Perfect! Today I was going to make cookies and I have a habit of saying things like, "I'm a cook, not a baker," and "I don't have a sweet tooth." Guess I was already feeling the need to do something different today. :)
"You can be an impatient bread maker and let the bread making teach you patience" may just become a personal mantra for me -- in all areas of life. Thank you as always for a thought-provoking start to my Sunday.
"You can be an impatient bread maker and let the bread making teach you patience" may just become a personal mantra for me -- in all areas of life. Thank you as always for a thought-provoking start to my Sunday.
Wonderful. I usually shy away from competition but today I raced. Hard, but the self-testing and accomplishment feels fantastic.
"...we also have to be careful not to limit ourselves by our own stories. " wise indeed
great essay. interesting that being a cook who loves to eat and follows taste as the main goal was not mentioned in the quiz. :)
"While it's very important to know ourselves, to be aware of our strengths and weaknesses, we also have to be careful not to limit ourselves by our own stories...... let the bread making teach you patience, or allow the fishbones to show you grace."
Pure, unadulterated Wisdom.
I am definitely a "generous" cook (yay having people over for dinner!), but also sort of "healthy," as I'm always trying to get more veggies into my diet and a little less sugar. But I'm also "lazy," "pragmatic," "efficient," and "creative." I love leftovers (straight or re-purposed), am always tweaking recipes, and reading vintage cookbooks for new inspiration. I hate pretentious food that takes loads of effort and meat-heavy meals, and I try to cook by dirtying the fewest number of dishes possible. I care more about how things taste than how they look.
I seems I also, "contain multitudes." Yesterday was from-scratch sausage-tomato-vegetable sauce with from-scratch (from a vintage cookbook) baked gnocchi di farina, a salad with homemade croutons, and a lemon almond pancake cake for dessert served to and cooked with friends. Today? Pureed pinto bean soup (made from canned beans) with cheese quesadillas for just me and the betrothed. Sometimes I like simple, sometimes I like a little more complex - I contain multitudes!
Bravo! never liked quizzes like that, anyway.
Thanks for this!
This was exactly what I needed to hear. I sometimes struggle with the the idea that I must define my "cooking style"--when all along, I need to just explore.
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I had to test a recipe today (I'm a cookbook editor) and I could hardly make myself follow the recipe (which is the WHOLE POINT, to see if it works!). But I did, and it did, and that was a new thing for me in the kitchen!
I'm half Healthy, half Generous. When I cook for myself I work toward a combination of nutrition and variety; when I cook for others, I tend to go for simple-but-delicious comfort food that pleases a crowd.
Because I have to put a meal on the table for my family every evening, I'm Efficient, Practical and Healthy, which also makes me Boring. My partner, who generally cooks when he has an audience, can be the Creative and Competitive one. It's a good balance - every so often, we get to indulge in a fabulous culinary creation, even if it is only one dish, served at midnight!
Thank you for this article. The best answers are the ones that led to better questions.
You are embracing authenticity and doing a great job of it. Authenticity is in short supply these days in the American culture and mostly because people lack the courage to lose themselves to find out who they really are... not just as cooks but as anything and everything.
Lovely essay, and a nice reminder that the comforts of well-worn recipes are nicely balanced by trying something new.