Ruddy Landry Paulino
Professor Jesse
Project 2
31 October 2018
What is cooking to you?
Michael Pollan “ Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch ”, brings to point what cooking has slowly progressed into over the last fifty years. Back when Julia Child was on air people were cooking away thriving off the fact that they had a mentor or a figure to follow “ My mother began cooking dishes she’d watched Julia cook on TV” as Pollan stated. Where as today we see that fewer people are losing the will power to cook. Cooking today versus back in the 1960’s has become a spectator sport in which we choose to watch it on tv instead of cooking it ourselves. Even though we have reverted are ways of cooking, will always be stuck in some aspects of life tradition will always stick around no matter what, evolution is a continuing cycle and technology growth.
“ Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch” illustrated by Michael Pollan, which got us thinking about how cooking shows or cooking, in general, has affected our view on cooking. It all started with Julia Child airing her cooking show “ So whenever people talk about how Julia Child upgraded the culture of food in America, I nod” which is slightly true. As Pollan did refer to his mother testing her new meals on his siblings and him after seeing Julia on tv. As time moved on we evolved and learned that there were easier ways of getting the food we wanted without having to work as hard. Which brings to point the fact that all these cooking show’s don’t really teach us the hard work it of cooking, instead they just show it off as a sport.
Cooking will stick around no matter what because of the traditional aspect of cooking. While reading Grace Frohock favorite meal essay, she stated “ Chocolate chip pancakes to her are more than just a breakfast food … they symbolize family, tradition, and connection” which some would agree. Except for others like The Food network or Gordon Ramsey in Pollan’s “ New York Times Magazine”. They see food as an opportunity for making money or turning home-cooked meals into a “ fast food or home-meal replacement”. Think about what you use to cook is it homemade or is it processed homemade. I know when I know that when I think of cooking I think of other cooking for me, which is shameful but it’s what people have reverted to. Technology is definitely helpful in some ways but it has cursed are ways in others especially cooking.
Technology
Draft Part 2
What is Cooking to You?
As the times have changed so haven’t the way people cook their food. In Michael Pollan “ Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” magazine, he brings to point what cooking has slowly progressed into over the last fifty years. Back when Julia Child was on air people were cooking away thriving off the fact that they had a mentor or a figure to follow. Where as today we see that fewer people have the willpower to cook. My peers at UNE however complicate Michael Pollan’s assertion. They view meals totally different from how they were back fifty years ago. Labina Faizizada keeps it traditional by hand making her food but if you were to look a Grace Frohock and Scott Matthews they view meals as processed or already made for them. Technology has sped things up including the way we prepare food but their will always be people that come back to our tradition because cooking brings us laughter, love, and memories. Technology has made new ways of cooking to become available but when it comes to tradition we won’t change the meaning it has for some cultures.
Technology has sped up the way people produce food and the time we take to actually prep a meal. As Pollan proposed “ processed foods have so thoroughly colonized the American kitchen and diet that they have redefined what passes today for cooking.” Cooking today is defined as going to a store to buy processed meals or just going out to a restaurant. Technology has become a big helping hand in advancing processed foods and bringing them into our homes. For instance let’s take a look at Grace Frohock favorite meal essay where her favorite meal comes from processed food “ box buttermilk pancake mix”. This box of buttermilk pancakes symbolizes Grace and her family being together for a meal. Is it really considered cooking though if all you do is crack an egg into powder and add what an walla you have pancake batter ready to go. Cooking shouldn’t become something we do out of a box but something we work hard on and put more effort into than just cracking an egg or adding water. People may argue this point but let’s think who is to blame for the physical changes that has occurred in the kitchen?
People haven’t realized is if we lose the contact of cooking or the emotional success of a well made meal cooking will lose its purpose in our lives. Cooking is seen by some people as something we need to do because if not we won’t survive to see another day. People won’t know how to act when they find a meal they like or have the gratifying feeling of successfully cooking an amazing dish. Pollan talks about Julia emotional tie to food, she mentioned that “ a lesson: ‘ The only way you learn to flips things is just to flip them!” Where as you look at Scott favorite meal essay where he talks about going out to eat at “palm restaurant” and how he considers this to be one of his favorite meals “ It was that time of year again; my brother, dad and I were in New York City, staying in a beautiful hotel… It was almost time to leave for dinner at one of my grandparents favorite restaurants.” Having a meal has changed over the years from just being made in the kitchen, to eating on a couch or relying on someone else to cook you food. Cooking in the kitchen has an affect on people bigger than we could understand. Cooking brings out the emotion in some that they never knew they had.
Cooking in a kitchen brings out a bunch of emotions some being a sense of dignity, a gratifying feeling or the fact that cooking can become a stress reliever. For some walking into a kitchen is like being in a sanctuary of peace, a space in the house where no one can disturb you. Michael Pollan talks about the emotional differences that cooking had on people back when Julia was around versus now “ These shows stress quick results, shortcuts and super convenience but never the sort of pleasure- physical and mental- that Julia Child took in the work of cooking.” This relates to sit down meals with your family because cooking can be a way of expressing yourself through the work of food. Having sit down meals with the family is what makes cooking for people even better
Cooking will stick around no matter what because of the traditional aspect of cooking. While reading Grace Frohock favorite meal essay, she stated “ Chocolate chip pancakes to her are more than just a breakfast food … they symbolize family, tradition, and connection” which some would agree. Except for others like The Food network or Gordon Ramsey in Pollan’s “ New York Times Magazine”. They see food as a opportunity for making money or turing home cooked meals into a “ fast food or home-meal replacement”. Think about what you use to cook is it homemade or is it processed homemade. I know that when I think of cooking I think of homemade cooking for me, which is shameful but it’s what people have reverted to. Technology is definitely helpful in some ways but it has cursed are ways in others especially cooking.
Michael Pollan got us thinking about how cooking shows or cooking in general has affected our view on cooking. It all started with Julia Child airing her cooking show “ So whenever people talk about how Julia Child upgraded the culture of food in America, I nod” which is slightly true. Cooking can be shown through many different views but as Pollan looked at it, it was a sport that everyone just love to watch. But is cooking really a sport though, from some standpoints we are the ones that turned it into a sport through are evolution, technology upgrading but the one thing that seem to stay constant is are traditional values. Tradition seem to be a keep circling point for a lot of food based holidays or just gathering of many people to celebrate a certain person/day.
Draft Part 3
Ruddy Landry Paulino
Professor Jesse
Project 2
31 October 2018
What is Cooking to You?
As the times have changed so haven’t the way people cook their food. In Michael Pollan “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” magazine, he brings to point that cooking has slowly progressed into over the last fifty years. When Julia Child was on air people were cooking away and thriving off the fact that they had a mentor or a figure to follow. Where as today we see that fewer people have the willpower to cook. My peers at UNE however complicate Michael Pollan’s assertion. They view meals totally different from how they were back fifty years ago. Labina Faizizada keeps it traditional by hand making her food but if you were to look a Grace Frohock and Scott Matthews they view meals as processed or already made for them. Technology has sped things up including the way we prepare food but there will always be people that come back to our tradition because cooking brings us laughter, love, and memories. Technology has made new ways of cooking to become available but when it comes to tradition we won’t change the meaning it has for some cultures.
Technology has sped up the way people produce food and the time we take to prepare a meal. As Pollan proposed “processed foods have so thoroughly colonized the American kitchen and diet that they have redefined what passes today for cooking.” Cooking today is defined as going to a store to buy processed meals or just going out to a restaurant. Technology has become a big helping hand in advancing processed foods and bringing them into our homes. For instance, let’s take a look at Grace Frohock favorite meal essay where her favorite meal comes from processed food “ box buttermilk pancake mix.” This box of buttermilk pancakes symbolizes Grace and her family being together for a meal. Should this really be considered cooking if all you do is crack an egg into powder and add water, voila you have pancake batter ready to go. Cooking shouldn’t become something we do out of a box but something we work hard on and put more effort into than just cracking an egg or adding water. People may argue this point but think of the physical and social changes that have occurred.
People haven’t realized that if we lose the contact of cooking or the emotional success of a well-made meal, cooking will lose its purpose in our lives. Some people see cooking as something we need to do because if not we won’t survive to see another day. People won’t know how to act when they find a meal they like or have the gratifying feeling of successfully cooking a fantastic dish. Pollan talks about Julia emotional tie to food, she mentioned that “a lesson: ‘The only way you learn to flips things is just to flip them!” Where as you look at Scott’s favorite meal essay where he talks about going out to eat at “palm restaurant” and how he considers this to be one of his favorite meals “It was that time of year again; my brother, dad and I were in New York City, staying in a beautiful hotel… It was almost time to leave for dinner at one of my grandparents’ favorite restaurants.” Having a meal has changed over the years from just being made in the kitchen, to eating on a couch or relying on someone else to cook your food. Cooking in the kitchen has an effect on people bigger than we could understand. Cooking brings out the emotion in some that they never knew they had.
Cooking in a kitchen brings different emotions some being a sense of dignity, a gratifying feeling or the fact that cooking can become a stress reliever. For some walking into a kitchen gives off the feeling of being in a sanctuary of peace, a space in the house where no one can disturb you. Michael Pollan talks about the emotional differences that cooking had on people back when Julia was around versus now “These shows stress quick results, shortcuts and super convenience but never the sort of pleasure- physical and mental- that Julia Child took in the work of cooking.” Having these feeling can come from making cultural food or just being able to keep family traditions around can bring pleasure to people. Cooking brings out a sort of feeling that can be physically amazing to someone and emotionally gratifying because they know their hard work paid off in the end.
If people forgot their cultural styles or traditions of cooking then everyone would lose the meaning of cooking. While reading Grace Frohock favorite meal essay, she proposed “Chocolate chip pancakes to her are more than just a breakfast food … they symbolize family, tradition, and connection” which some would agree. Except for others like The Food Network or Gordon Ramsey in Pollan’s “ New York Times Magazine.” They see food as a opportunity for making money or turing home cooked meals into a “fast food or home-meal replacement.” Think about what you use to cook, is it homemade or is it processed homemade. I know that when I think of cooking I think of homemade it takes me back to Labinas favorite meal essay “folding the mantu to [their] liking and making [their] own style out of it,” wouldn’t you want to custom make your meals to your liking. Well if we were to sit back and watch people make it on tv or just pop a premade item in the oven you take the risk of not liking it or the food tasting bad. If technology were to take over cooking and make food for us we would lose our traditions and culture.
Michael Pollan got us thinking about how cooking shows or cooking in general has affected our view on cooking. It all started with Julia Child airing her cooking show “So whenever people talk about how Julia Child upgraded the culture of food in America, I nod” which is slightly true. Cooking can be shown through many different views but as Pollan looked at it, it was a sport that everyone just love to watch. But is cooking really a sport though, from some standpoints we are the ones that turned it into a sport through are evolution, technology upgrading but the one thing that seem to stay constant is are traditional values. The meaning behind tradition is that people only make certain meals for certain times depending if it were a holiday or maybe a planned event. Cooking has shifted from being something people put time and effort into, to people just trying to make it as fast as possible.
Works Cited
Pollan,Michael. “ Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch.” The New York Times Magazine, 29 July 2009, pp. 21+.
Frohock, Grace. “ The Saturday Morning Treat.” Uneportfolio, https://gfrohock1.uneportfolio.org/favorite-food-essay/, Accessed 13 October 2018.
Faizizada, Labina. “ Mantu” Uneportfolio,https://lfaizizada.uneportfolio.org/meal-analysis/, Accessed 15 October 2018.
Matthews,Scott. “The Meal Of A Lifetime” Uneportfolio, https://smatthews.uneportfolio.org/food-for-thought/, Accessed 14 October 2018
