Cooking as an Art Form

Neither life nor culture can be sustained without food. On a very basic level, food is fundamentally essential for life, not simply to exist, but also to thrive. A means by which carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, nutrients, and calories are introduced into the body, food is a mechanism of survival. However, on a more abstract level, food is also fundamentally essential for culture by establishing its perimeters and dimensions and in shaping its authenticity and character. Food becomes the

In Jessica Harris’s “The Culinary Season of my Childhood” she peels away at the layers of how food and a food based atmosphere affected her life in a positive way. Food to her represented an extension of culture along with gatherings of family which built the basis for her cultural identity throughout her life. Harris shares various anecdotes that exemplify how certain memories regarding food as well as the varied characteristics of her cultures’ cuisine left a lasting imprint on how she began to view food and continued to proceeding forward. she stats “My family, like many others long separated from the south, raised me in ways that continued their eating traditions, so now I can head south and sop biscuits in gravy, suck chewy bits of fat from a pigs foot spattered with hot sauce, and yes’m and no’m with the best of ‘em,.” (Pg. 109 Para). Similarly, since I am Jamaican, food remains something that holds high importance in my life due to how my family prepared, flavored, and built a food-based atmosphere. They extended the same traditions from their country of origin within the new society they were thrusted into. The impact of food and how it has factors to comfort, heal, and bring people together holds high relevance in how my self-identity was shaped regarding food.

The basic approach to American lifestyle and culture have changed drastically since the second world war. Because of the lack of men due to heavy drafting into the war, women were encouraged to join the workforce. Canning and freezing food became a cultural norm in order to cheaply stock up on food during the war. From the encouragement of both genders in the workforce and the prevalence of processed foods, society has now become accustomed to the ease of less-than-three-minute meals, gradually characterizing cooking as an archaic activity. Michael Pollan, a journalist who frequently contributes to the New York Times Magazine, has attempted to address the trend of processed food over home cooking, particularly in his article “The End of Cooking?”. He expresses the need for the revival of home cooked meals through his argument on how the fundamental views and practices behind cooking has changed since the end of French Chef with Julia Child to the present. Freedman, a journalist who has criticized Pollan in his article “How Junk Food Can End Obesity,” condemns Pollan’s views as glorifying cooking, and presents processed food as the solution to creating a healthier society. He contends that creating healthier processed foods can be the key to ending obesity rather than the praised wholesome foods. Though both make compelling arguments on which type of foods will help end obesity and improve overall health [what compelling argument], neither are willing to make a compromise or

This has contribute in the evolution of food as there were an exchange of knowledge of food production, and the combination of different culture and cooking recipe could have been done.

Food, has a specific meaning to all of us; for some it is a form of nourishment, for others it is a cultural act,

There was an automatic click when food appeared on TV. There is no way to watch television without seeing a food that can make a person’s mouth water. The idea sparked to carry cooking on to television, starting as a simple way to share recipes, tips, and tricks with home-making mothers over the radio; the food and cooking industry has developed into a full-fledged entertainment basis for many Americans today. The evolution of cooking is positively influenced by the introduction of television and technology on American culture.

When one first pictures Greek culture, images of famous battles immediately come to mind. However, the debates of food and dining going on in the background are often overlooked. This is unfortunate, as Ancient Greek culture was closely tied with their food and dining habits. For the Ancient Greeks, food was a symbol of civilization, and it both tied them with the gods, as they have many gods that rule over specific food commodities, and separated them from the gods, as gods did not have to eat to survive. Philosophers, writers, and artists all got involved in the enduring debate about what is healthy, just, and correct when it comes to food choices. This debate is continued even today, and in order for the argument to move forward, we must first understand its roots.

Food is main part of our daily lives that brings our families together at least once a day to reconnect. It does not only keep us alive and functioning, but it helps us to learn and immerse ourselves into other cultures. Food can symbolize different things in a certain culture, such as a holiday or a celebration of some sort. An example is that on Jewish Passover each of the foods during the Seder meal have a specific meaning, and is eaten to help with the remembrance of certain events in their cultures history. Food can also show different cultures customs and their perceptions of what good manners are.

Chefs and restaurant owners goal during the revolutionary war of French cooking was to make new and personalized dishes that were made with combinations that never existed before. Chefs and cooks while getting their professional training were instructed and forced to learn how to cook dishes that were considered standards of cooking and are now called classical cuisine. Chefs began to grow tired of making the same dishes and using the same recipe, these chefs than began to rebel against the establishment of cooking. These chefs started to experiment and tamper with dishes to see what new creations that they can

This paper will discuss the multifaceted relationships among food, and culture. I will be looking at the relationships people have with food, and explore how this relationship reveals information about them. Their food choices of individuals and groups, can reveal their ideals, likes and dislikes. Food choices tell the stories of where people have travelled and who they have met along the way.

The Making of a Chef was a fascinating book that alternated my perspective on cooking giving me a clearer view of working through a culinary program. Michael Ruhlman gave readers a glimpse of life within the Culinary Institute of America, which is the most critical culinary school in the United States. Nothing is left to instinct or assumed information, everything is shown whether it is with culinary maths or precisely how you lay out unresolved issues for the ideal stock. Everything was just striven to be excellent, not good, nor O.K., but miraculously perfect.

Cooking is a vital, overlooked component necessary to accomplish every human’s basic fundamental needs to survive and reproduce. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, food is one of the factors that constructs the base of the pyramid’s physiological section (Myers 330). This section cannot be considered without its fundamental component, the act of cooking. Not only is this act executed in most human individuals’ everyday lifestyle, but has also increased their fitness in the course of time. In Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Humans by Richard Wrangham, Wrangham similar idea convinces me. Wrangham declares that it was fire and cooking that led to new crucial physical traits developed in humans. Whether fire was created as a

Food can teach how cultures developed their cuisine. Sometimes poverty forces people to utilize strange ingredients. Sometimes certain crops are more abundant than others, thus the brunt of their food composes of that crop. Necessity forces people to improvise their cuisine; in the earliest times, people cooked food to survive, not to entertain their taste buds. People can also learn how each culture savors its food. For example, the French eat their food quickly. People can also learn about the community through food, how families, schools, and religious institutions eat. Food is essential as it is “where culture and ecology intersect”, and the act of eating teaches people humanity. Someone can refer to this source’s many points on what food teaches to build an argument on how food is cultural

Eating brings people closer together everyday, and for everyone, there are important memories that have been created because of food. Whether it’s a formal dinner, or an informal picnic, there will always be special bonds between people because food was involved. We need to have traditions with food because they form and strengthen the bonds between us.

Food brings everyone together no matter what culture you are in. Culture is a way of life shared by a group of people, beliefs, customs, symbols and etc. Many families can spend time with each other by preparing and eating dinner at the table, going out for dinner or just celebrating holidays.