The Why of Cooking (2017) • Hacker News Board

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#61

Post by argyleaf » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

jlg23 wrote: post #55

silveroriole wrote: post #37

“While cooking is for many a hobby, it is also a thing that nearly everyone has to do, usually when time is short.“ If only this wasn’t the case. This is always unpopular whenever I say it, but we no longer expect everyone to sew their own clothes or bake their own bread - why do we still demand that everyone cook for themselves (and, often, that they enjoy it too)? As this article demonstrates, the barrier for even…

> we no longer expect everyone to sew their own clothes or bake their own bread - why do we still demand that everyone cook for themselves And yet a lot of cultures do expect you to know basic sewing (eg reattaching a button is expected from every recruit in the military) and I assume everyone who was a scout has made his own bread. > I wish we could move away from every individual cooking for themselves and towards…

My troop had a Heavy Cream Patrol which prided itself on making gourmet food in the backcountry. This usually meant carrying extra equipment, learning to cook well with both backpacking stoves and live fire (more than just boiling water), and spending extra time cooking at night. After hiking all day you are going to sit around the campfire anyway, why not make it a productive period? Plus there is nothing better than a stellar meal and dessert while sitting in a beautiful spot.

Cooking is still a way I relax and one way I show affection to friends and family. There is a certain satisfaction from having a meal where you raised and/or made every item on the table from raw materials. For instance this morning I made my wife and I egg sandwiches with sourdough bread we baked yesterday morning, red pepper jelly we put up last year, onions we grew and stored over winter, bacon we smoked from a hog we helped raise, eggs from some chickens we help take care of, and microgreens we grew in the basement. We (clearly) live in a rural-ish setting so I realize what is possible for us is not possible for those living in a major metro area (except maaaaybe Portland), but aspects of this are possible almost anywhere if you want to try.

Then there is the nerd factor where you can get into the science of cooking a la modernist cuisine and that takes it to a whole other level in engaging with my engineering side....

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#62

Post by JoeAltmaier » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 2:43 PM UTC

argyleaf wrote: post #61

jlg23 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we no longer expect everyone to sew their own clothes or bake their own bread - why do we still demand that everyone cook for themselves And yet a lot of cultures do expect you to know basic sewing (eg reattaching a button is expected from every recruit in the military) and I assume everyone who was a scout has made his own bread. > I wish we could move away from every individual cooking for themselves and towards…

My troop had a Heavy Cream Patrol which prided itself on making gourmet food in the backcountry. This usually meant carrying extra equipment, learning to cook well with both backpacking stoves and live fire (more than just boiling water), and spending extra time cooking at night. After hiking all day you are going to sit around the campfire anyway, why not make it a productive period? Plus there is nothing better tha…

I made Crème Brulee at a camporee with my Troop once. They still talk about it.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#63

Post by sureaboutthis » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 2:53 PM UTC

majewsky wrote: post #59

sureaboutthis wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can cook a meal of almost any kind in 30 minutes or less. Your comparison to sewing clothes is wrong cause it usually takes days, or many hours, to do such a thing. Baking bread? I do it almost every day...from scratch...no bread maker. >this is mainly motivated by the fact that I hate cooking And there you go. I would add that you lack cooking knowledge and ability. If you knew how, you wouldn't say such things.…

> You can cook a meal of almost any kind in 30 minutes or less. So the recipe magically chooses itself? So the food magically appears in your fridge? So the dishes magically wash themselves afterwards? So the left-over ingredients magically use themselves up? I really hate when people downplay the time cost involved in food preparation by focussing on only one step of the procedure.

When you cook at home, you decide what you want to cook and find a recipe. From there on out, you have the recipe. Just like restaurants don't magically appear when you decide you want a hamburger. You must choose one.

In the time it takes you to go to a restaurant, or order online, I can cook a meal for four at half the price you paid.

I hate when people downplay the time and cost involved in eating out as if there is none.

Last night, I made a two prime, strip steaks with red potato chips and a side salad. It took me less than 30 minutes. Admittedly, the salad came from a bag my wife bought on the way home cause I forgot to buy vegetables.

Most of that time was waiting for things to heat up. A few minutes for the pan. Longer for the oven for the potatoes.

This morning we had eggs with melted cheddar, english muffin and bacon. I bought the muffins cause it's harder to make than regular sourdough bread I bake. It took me 10 minutes not including opening up the packages and getting things out of the fridge.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#64

Post by arkh » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 3:28 PM UTC

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #32

mikekchar wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favourite aha moments: Back when I was much younger virtually every cookbook said you should add olive oil to pasta cooking water. I could never figure out why. Later people pretty much poo-pooed the practice saying that it was some old wives tale about stopping the pot from boiling over or some such thing. Fast forward many years and I was trying to work on a bolognese sauce. My wife likes meat/tomato sauc…

Oil in pasta water is a weird thing. It generally helps the pasta not stick, especially after cooking and waiting for sauce. This can be mostly ignored if you stir the pasta often and leave a wooden spoon across the top of the pan (to stop boil-overs). It does add flavor at times. The main drawback to putting oil in the pasta water or tossing the pasta with oil/butter afterwards is that some pasta sauces won't stick…

Or do the contrary of what you'd do for sticky rice: start cooking in boiling water and once the water is full of starch, replace the water.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#65

Post by dageshi » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 3:31 PM UTC

PunchTornado wrote: post #60

dageshi wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree. South East Asia was heaven for me, in Bangkok you never have to cook, you never have to think about cooking. Even in smaller villages in Thailand you could find tons of places serving cheap, good food any time of the day (and numerous at night as well). Now that I'm back in the UK I mostly just prepare a bunch of sandwhiches twice a week. I hate cooking.

hmm, food courts are ok for a couple of weeks, but I find them lacking in variety. I don't think they are a substitution for cooking by yourself.

For someone who hates cooking... I can tell you, they definitely are.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#66

Post by billfruit » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 3:31 PM UTC

molf wrote: post #13

latch wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my experience, the amount of vinegar required to see an actual difference is enough to change the flavor of the eggs. Try creating a vortex in your water and placing the egg inside [1] (although they still use a "drop of vinegar') [1] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/se...

An even better technique (I tried lots) is to put the eggs in boiling water for 20-30s before breaking and poaching them. It will start the coagulation process of the egg whites, making it much more viscous when you actually do break them. This causes the egg whites to keep together and not spread in the water too quickly. Result is a nicer, rounder poached egg.

There is another technique I have seen of breaking the egg on to a cling film pouch, and then securing it, and poaching the pouch in water.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#67

Post by markc » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 3:36 PM UTC

spodek wrote: post #27

I spent too much of my life learning to do things by following rules, up to and including a PhD and an MBA. I've since learned to love learning by doing and diving in. Food is probably the best success in that area, combined with the observation that constraints breed creativity. My cooking gets high reviews (from friends, not critics http://joshuaspodek.com/food-world-reviews ) and has inspired my passion and podcas…

>Joining a CSA/farm share helped a lot too

Seconded, including a winter CSA, which gave me new appreciation for several root veggies I'd neglected (e.g. parsnip, rutabega, turnip). It can be an engaging challenge to use it all - in an Iron Chef sort of way.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#68

Post by dagw » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 3:36 PM UTC

sureaboutthis wrote: post #49

silveroriole wrote: post #37

“While cooking is for many a hobby, it is also a thing that nearly everyone has to do, usually when time is short.“ If only this wasn’t the case. This is always unpopular whenever I say it, but we no longer expect everyone to sew their own clothes or bake their own bread - why do we still demand that everyone cook for themselves (and, often, that they enjoy it too)? As this article demonstrates, the barrier for even…

You can cook a meal of almost any kind in 30 minutes or less. Your comparison to sewing clothes is wrong cause it usually takes days, or many hours, to do such a thing. Baking bread? I do it almost every day...from scratch...no bread maker. >this is mainly motivated by the fact that I hate cooking And there you go. I would add that you lack cooking knowledge and ability. If you knew how, you wouldn't say such things.…

I know how to cook, on the whole I really enjoy it and I'm even pretty good at it. But the fact that I know I'm required to start doing it every single day as soon as I get home from work, mainly to satisfy other people, no matter if I feel like it or not can really suck joy straight out of it for me. If it was purely upp to me I'd eat out 3-5 days a week and save the cooking for when I wanted to.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#69

Post by sokoloff » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 4:04 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #54

tomcooks wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your use of the word "fuss", together with that of a timer instead of being an active participant in the cooking experience, clearly explains what's the difference between the method i proposed and your way of dealing with what you ingest. Feel free to continue your way, if it' the same to you.

Don't understand at all. Why is it a problem that I'm preparing the sauce (which actually requires my attention) while the pasta is cooking? Anything other than arrogance? Don't even try to make me believe that you get 'better pasta' by fussing over it. Its not the star of the dish - its just a vehicle, and 'cooking' is just making it softer. Not adding anything magical.

(I'm on your side; I want the absolute least of my personal time and attention devoted to food preparation.)

IMO, tomcooks' comments aren't arrogance; they're an expression that some people genuinely enjoy the process of cooking and are perfectly happy (in fact, happiest) if they remain thoroughly engaged in the preparation steps.

To me, it's a bunch of wasted time; to them, it's enjoyable. Replace "cooking dinner" with "computer programming on an unpaid side project" and many HN readers will understand that we/they enjoy it immensely while others would see it as a tedious waste of time.

Re: The Why of Cooking (2017)

#70

Post by loadedanvils » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 4:06 PM UTC

spodek wrote: post #27

I spent too much of my life learning to do things by following rules, up to and including a PhD and an MBA. I've since learned to love learning by doing and diving in. Food is probably the best success in that area, combined with the observation that constraints breed creativity. My cooking gets high reviews (from friends, not critics http://joshuaspodek.com/food-world-reviews ) and has inspired my passion and podcas…

>I spent too much of my life learning to do things by following rules, up to and including a PhD and an MBA. I've since learned to love learning by doing and diving in.

I'm really interested to know how you transitioned. I'm a recent graduate and I'm planning to pursue a graduate degree, and I'm overly concerned with rules, which provide structure but also seem to constrict my learning and work.