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Cooking is a dying art/skill. When I was a kid, everyone made homemade everything. It was really unbelievable, looking back. We took it for granted. Now, if someone makes a cake from a mix, that's spectacular.
We keep hearing it is a dying art and yet, there are more cooking shows popping up each month it seems. I guess people just like to watch others cook. I think for many it has changed. Yes, in some ways, the type of cooking we grew up with is a dying art, but young people who enjoy cooking use more imagination than some of us used. And men are doing a lot more cooking than in generations past. The rolls of husband and wife are continuing to change.
My daughter-in-law can do take out real good. Our son does all the cooking and she cleans the kitchen.
My daughter cannot cook, no interest whatsoever in learning. My son-in-law cooks in their home.
I have sent simple, easy recipes to our daughter and she can screw those up.
sounds like our younger granddaughter.She does cook some, she is pretty much a stay at home mom, but does a lot of volunteer work. Her husbands travels a lot so she doesn't really have a reason to learn the skills of the kitchen, but she tries. Whenever we have a family get togehter at her place, either (if it is the right season) we have a bar b cue and her husband does the grilling or if it is winter and usually that means football parties, she will order buffalo wings, pizza or something like that.We all bring something to go with whatever she is serving. Her older sister has a full time job outside the home and still enjoys cooking.
We keep hearing it is a dying art and yet, there are more cooking shows popping up each month it seems. I guess people just like to watch others cook.
I don't think it is a "dying art". People who don't enjoy cooking or don't have the time for it can still eat because there are more options available. There were plenty of bad cooks back in the day as well. I do think that many people who might have developed into good home cooks in the past, simply don't have the benefit of time and necessity to nurture the skill. People who are interested still make the time and effort. There are more resources than ever - both in information and in food itself.
I know a few people who have no interest in cooking - often they aren't particularly interested in food anyway, it's just kind of there. They are good at other things they have more interest in.
Cooking is a dying art/skill. When I was a kid, everyone made homemade everything. It was really unbelievable, looking back. We took it for granted. Now, if someone makes a cake from a mix, that's spectacular.
It's not dying; if anything, it's trendy. There are entire cable networks and celebrity personalities devoted to cooking, foodie blogs are common, specialty high-end cookware/culinary accoutrement stores abound in upscale shopping areas, farmer's markets are commonplace in urban centers, cookbooks read like coffee table books, featuring sumptuous photography and food styling and charming anecdotes.
The bubble will likely burst. But, for the time being, an interest in food and cooking and whole food ingredients seems to be at a significant high.
To be perfectly honest, my enjoyment of cooking vacillates wildly. At some times of the year, it's hard to tear myself out of the kitchen. At others, I am perfectly happy with heat 'n eat, takeout, or a piece of fruit & cheese for dinner. When there is plenty of time, ample ingredients, and an appreciative audience, then I absolutely enjoy preparing meals. When the schedule is packed, the produce sucks, and everybody is stressed, then it's drudgery, and I hate it. People today tend to romanticize cooking. Truth be told, it's generally hard, time-consuming, relentless work for people who don't always value the effort. I'm in awe of women like my g-grandmother who did it day, day out for a family of fifteen with with limited money and no modern conveniences until she dropped dead at the age of 53. Gee, I wonder why! That kind of cooking is an entirely different beast from picking up some arborio rice, a wedge of imported parmeggiano, and a basket of fancy mushrooms for a Valentine's dinner of creamy risotto. Maybe we should take a moment to recognize that rather than indulging in the soft misogyny of shaming women for not knowing how to season a pot of beans.
To be perfectly honest, my enjoyment of cooking vacillates wildly. At some times of the year, it's hard to tear myself out of the kitchen. At others, I am perfectly happy with heat 'n eat, takeout, or a piece of fruit & cheese for dinner. When there is plenty of time, ample ingredients, and an appreciative audience, then I absolutely enjoy preparing meals. When the schedule is packed, the produce sucks, and everybody is stressed, then it's drudgery, and I hate it. People today tend to romanticize cooking. Truth be told, it's generally hard, time-consuming, relentless work for people who don't always value the effort. I'm in awe of women like my g-grandmother who did it day, day out for a family of fifteen with with limited money and no modern conveniences until she dropped dead at the age of 53. Gee, I wonder why! That kind of cooking is an entirely different beast from picking up some arborio rice, a wedge of imported parmeggiano, and a basket of fancy mushrooms for a Valentine's dinner of creamy risotto. Maybe we should take a moment to recognize that rather than indulging in the soft misogyny of shaming women for not knowing how to season a pot of beans.
Seriously, disdain for people who are helpless at cooking for themselves is pretty equal opportunity, as far as I'm concerned. I always thought it was ridiculous that my dad's cooking skills were limited, according to him, to frying Spam. That's nonsense, and is simply a cop-out.
Seriously, disdain for people who are helpless at cooking for themselves is pretty equal opportunity, as far as I'm concerned. I always thought it was ridiculous that my dad's cooking skills were limited, according to him, to frying Spam. That's nonsense, and is simply a cop-out.
To some extent, but let's be honest here, the OP specifically called out women. And used devilled eggs as an example of something women in her family couldn't cook. A few others mentioned using cake mixes as an example of people not knowing "the basics". Several bemoaned the fact that their daughters-in-law couldn't cook and it was left up to their sons and that "today's women" just don't cook....
So - yes, while both genders SHOULD be able to cook "the basics" what exactly does that entail? Basics for surviving day to day on a reasonably well balanced diet? A person can do that without knowing a whole lot of cooking. Buy fresh fruit and veggies, eat raw or steamed and supplement with decent protein and carbs. That can be accomplished without much in the way of the "art" of cooking if one is both easily satisfied and uninterested in cooking.
Cooking for a family? Entertaining? All of those are different levels and entail different basics IMO. And if one isn't cooking for others then what difference does it really make? If more than one person is involved, then as long as *someone* can do it, and doesn't mind doing it, then again - what difference?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder
Let's not overreact .
I think what randomparent is meaning (please correct rp if I'm mistaken) by "soft misogyny" is that while most will agree in theory that both genders should be capable of cooking, in general when people are sighing about "this generation" not being able to cook for themselves, what is really meant is "this generation of women" because frankly, this generation of men probably cooks more than the men of generations past. And when the men do - everyone holds it up as quite an accomplishment - "Look! He can cook too!" It's a bonus. If a woman can't cook - it's not looked at as simply missing out on something extra...it's a basic skill that is lacking and they are judged negatively for it.
Last edited by maciesmom; 02-14-2015 at 04:35 PM..
It honestly wasn't a man vs woman thing for me. I have no idea where that even came from.
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