There's more to life than boiled noodles

So I happened to peruse a copy of the Western Front today and came across an article that actually made me think. Well, I guess it was more of an interview than a full on article.

Why is the knife so important?
The most important part of food preparation is cutting. It takes a long time, and a lot of people shy away from the kitchen and preparing their own food because cutting can be miserable. Many people don’t have a proper knife and they don’t know how to use it.

As someone who grew into the position of the family cook pretty early on, I know the value of being able to cook. It's a life skill and really is a whole lot cheaper and healthier than eating out all the time.

Seeing this interview with Hopkins made me smile and nod and then shake my head because it's true: So many college students don't know how to cook for themselves.

Over spring break I was staying at a friend's house because I had crew practice and in process of making a team dinner, I realized the house I was staying at did not have a proper chefs knife. They had a few other decent knives, but nothing made for chopping vegetables. Call me spoiled, call me picky, but that just wouldn't do, so I bought a knife when I was at the store getting ingredients.

What scares me most though is the people who don't know measurements. There's a big difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. About three times as much difference to be exact.

When you get down to it, cooking is easy. The recipe tells you everything you need to do in the order you need to do it with the amounts required. Barring a lack of familiarity with the tools of the trade (like how to use a knife), if you can read and follow directions, you can cook something semi-decent. It will only really get good when you learn enough to play with the recipes, altering them according to what's available and what you're actually looking to make.

I've often heard cooking compared to chemistry. I disagree. In cooking you can get messy. You can add things that aren't called for. You can sniff, taste and most importantly, use your hands if you're cooking for yourself and not worried too much about exact sanitary conditions.

Half the time I don't actually follow a recipe. I can usually figure out what I need just based on knowing what I'm making. After a while you gain knowledge of what goes with what based on taste alone. It's fun to explore, to test yourself and try making something new.

There's more to eating than boiled noodles.