
By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind - robg
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/weekinreview/02bittman.html?hp
======
jvdongen
I frequently read this kind of articles on the web, and every time I'm amazed
by it. Preparing food yourself is the rule in my corner of the world (the
Netherlands) - going out for dinner an exception. And up until a few years ago
you'd be hard pressed to find a public place that actually served breakfast.

Of course, not every Dutchmen is a great cook (to say the least ;-) but I
think you'd have a hard time to find a Dutch adult who doesn't have the means
or is not able to prepare (much) more elaborate meals than discussed in this
article. And probably this holds true for most of Europe as well. Maybe even
for the rest of the world except the US?

Having said that though, I feel that the situation is slowly changing in
recent years - primarily for the wealthier part of the population, but still.
Kind of makes me sad if I see products in the supermarket which are 'ready
made' and 4 times as expensive as the individual ingredients, while knowing
that making the same dish from scratch would hardly take longer than preparing
the 'ready made' variant and be healthier and cheaper to boot.

~~~
jerf
"Having said that though, I feel that the situation is slowly changing in
recent years"

You have to be careful when comparing the US to the rest of the world, because
the US is the one breaking the ground of new levels of relatively-well-
distributed wealth. (Put aside the question of how well for a moment, please.)
For instance, it turns out that the US did not have uniquely bad dietary
habits around flour and sugar, it's just that the US was the first to discover
people really like to eat that crap and could afford the infrastructure to
deploy it; now the bad diets and the consequences are spreading like wildfire
as the requisite level of wealth is spreading. (dhughes says Canada is there
too, certainly they have that level of wealth too.)

Correspondingly, it is hard to know whether the rest of the world cooks their
own meals and don't eat out much because of some sort of intrinsic betterness
or culture, or because they simply can't afford it yet. Once people can afford
it in more places they may be more inclined to eat out. And if they do,
they'll start losing the ability to cook overall. Culture may induce some lag
but there's no particularly compelling reason to think that more countries
won't follow along.

~~~
demallien
_You have to be careful when comparing the US to the rest of the world,
because the US is the one breaking the ground of new levels of relatively-
well-distributed wealth._

Not so much, see here: [http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/mint-map-global-
wealth-distr...](http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/mint-map-global-wealth-
distribution/)

Most of the "western" countries are ahead of the US for distributing wealth
amongst the population.

~~~
jerf
Yeah, that's the wrong stat to use. The US has had a healthy middle
industrial-age middle class for longer than anyone else, and even if it is
ailing today (which is debatable and subject to rapid change with notice in
either direction), my points still stand. It also has a higher average income
level than most if not all, along with a higher median and a generally larger
"social wealth", even if, again, we may be letting some of that slip.

A well-distributed wealth of $15K a year will not show you how that country
will necessarily behave when it has a spotty-but-$42K-average wealth.

I suggested strongly that the point not be missed, I guess I should have just
cut straight to spelling it out even if it would have broken the flow. You
point is not relevant to my point at all.

~~~
zoomzoom
His point is relevant, I think. But it does not make your point invalid. The
us can be considered exceptionally wealthy due to it's per capita gpa,
consumption, size, and stored wealth in terms of infrastructure, resources,
education, and stability.

------
elptacek
We don't cook because our parents didn't. Prepackaged convenience foods have
always been something of a status item. This whole "return to cooking" is
something of an amusing rebellion to me, since it was something of a stigma in
my childhood. If your parents had money, your lunch was filled with tasty
items sealed in plastic from a factory.

I used to bake bread in my dorm kitchen. My floormates thought it astounding.
This is how I learned that nobody's parents had taught them how to cook. As an
only child of a single parent, the responsibility for the evening meal fell to
me (as well as my own meals throughout the day). Eventually I set upon the
family collection of cookbooks and was allowed to make pretty much anything.
Even a recipe from a Campbell's Soup cookbook for oatmeal cookies containing a
can of tomato soup (as disgusting as it sounds).

Perhaps it's worth noting that my kids generally prefer prepackaged foods over
our cooking. So maybe it's a cyclical thing, in some subset of each
generation. But I'm hoping that teaching them to cook will change that.

~~~
wdewind
The last thing you said is what I came in here to write. Everything in the
NYTimes article is correct (about how easy it is to cook those 3 basic meals
etc), but it misses one thing: there is no way that someone goes from eating
burgers and prepackaged foods to salads and lentils instantly, and it's not
because it's difficult or time consuming to cook (it's not really for most
things).

Restaurant food has a major convenience factor, but the NYTimes article
completely disregards that it also just plain tastes better than a salad to
most people.

As someone who hates healthy food, lives in NYC where I can literally order
delivery off the internet, and is trying to cook a lot more, you can't force
two things on people at once: healthy eating AND cooking. I'm beginning to
really like cooking, but only because I'm making things that aren't super
healthy. My mother is a librarian and highly encourages her kids to read
comics because to her they are a) totally valid reading material and b) are
sometimes a gateway drug to much more reading. It's the same with cooking:
teach someone to cook a butter burger and fry up some potatoes first (they'll
still probably be knocking a few hundred calories off a restaurant version of
the same meal anyway) and get them hooked on it. Maybe they'll transition to
healthier stuff, worst case you at least have them eating SLIGHTLY healthier,
and far closer to the source.

TLDR: Make a man a salad and he will order delivery for a night, teach a man
to make salad and he will order deliver for a lifetime.

~~~
bobf
In the same vein.. if you want a delicious salad, try making this: an over-
easy egg served on top of chunks of crispy bacon over baby spinach greens,
with a dressing of a mixture of a decent balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

~~~
oiuytyuioiuy
Quick 'sort of ceaser salad'

Half a teaspoon of dijon mustard (the dark stuff, not the yellow squeezy
hotdog stuff)

Half teaspoon of mayonaise

Teaspoon of olive oil

Teaspoon of lemon juice

Shake and pour on lettuce

~~~
tptacek
Gah! What? No! Gah! What? Gah!

You have olive oil, lemon juice, and dijon. All you need is an egg yolk and
you have _Caesar salad_ , not "sort of ceaser salad [made with mayo]".

1 egg yolk, 2 tbs lemon juice (or, just half a lemon's juice), spoon of dijon,
dash worcestershire (if you have it handy), crushed garlic clove (if you have
it handy). Salt, pepper. Mix mix mix mix. 1/3 cup olive oil, poured slowly
while mix mix mix mix mix. CAESAR SALAD.

Every time you put mayo in a Caesar, God staple-guns a kitten to a sheet of
rotted plywood by the ears. I have this on very good authority.

------
mitko
An year ago I could hardly cook anything except omelet - badly. During the
last year I've learned a bunch of recipes - enough to feel confident in the
kitchen. Looking back, I think the factors that made it easiest to me to
develop the habit of cooking were:

\- A decent kitchen. I've tried cooking before but the lack of kitchen
appliances was just demotivating.

\- A need to save some money. Bringing food with me to classes was supposed to
be cheaper.

\- A bet with a friend of mine on who can make 6-pack abs first. I wanted to
eat healthy and tasty at the same time, so I had to control the food.

~~~
jules
Which kitchen appliances did you miss? The one thing I miss when cooking at
other people's places is a sharp knife. It is really irritating (and
dangerous) to cook with a blunt knife.

Did you win the bet? ;)

~~~
mitko
I guess I just wasn't comfortable cooking in a dorm kitchen and there were
multiple appliances that I was missing.

But, yes, Jules, a _big_ sharp knife is definitely necessary.

We didn't compare, nor we set a wager, but I got my 6packs and learned to
control my weight, which I count as a win.

~~~
jules
Ah, yes, student dorms usually lack all kinds of material. I have a big knife
but I can't use it well so I always use a small knife (this one
[http://www.edenwebshops.co.uk/en/pt/-robert-herder-paring-
kn...](http://www.edenwebshops.co.uk/en/pt/-robert-herder-paring-knife.htm)).
Why do you prefer a big knife? Is it worth becoming proficient using one?

------
dylan62
I eat lots of supermarket 'ready meals'. There seems to be an assumption that
this is worse for my health that if I prepared and cooked the ingredients
myself. Can someone point me to some concrete scientific evidence that that is
true, or at least some convincing theories on why it might be true? (Ready
meals are _really_ convenient - if I'm going to motivate myself to give them
up, I need some concrete evidence that they really are bad for me)

~~~
orlandu63
Pre-made meals aren't intrinsically bad for you; it's the preservatives and
other questionable ingredients (and quantity of) that the manufacturers may
add that is detrimental to your health.

~~~
techsupporter
I believe the parent post is referring to the "Meals For Two" that some
grocery stores are offering these days. In my area, two chains--Market Street
and Central Market, for reference--have hot food restaurants/delis in the
store. They use the same stock that is sold in the store and prepare lunch and
dinner servings prior to the store opening and then throughout the day. Those
are then packaged in containers, placed into a paper bag, stapled closed and
put into a refrigerated display case.

Functionally, these are no different from preparing food at home. They are
naturally more expensive than cooking the food yourself, but I can't tell a
big difference. There are even services around here now that prepare, freeze,
and deliver fresh-cooked meals from a nearby commercial kitchen on a weekly
basis.

~~~
jchrisa
If you think that stuff doesn't taste like total crap, you are kidding
yourself. In the last two years my wife and I moved from Portland (where you
can get healthy tasty restaurant food) to the Bay Area (where you can't) and
so we started cooking at home all the time.

Anything that isn't a home cooked meal tastes like industrial crap to me (even
most restaurants). Once you have tasted sauteed greens, rice and home-roasted
chicken, all those prepared foods you thought were normal will reveal
themselves to you as suddenly not even worth the category "food".

------
pamelafox
Growing up, I only knew how to cook spaghetti and chocolate chip cookies. I
figured everything else was in the realm of gourmets, and then I went to work
for Google, and I never really needed to cook.

But lately I got interested in cooking again and discovered that its
surprisingly easy to cook delicious meals. Here are my staples: \- Beef &
veggie stir-fry ([http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/beef-and-
veg...](http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/beef-and-vegetable-
stir-fry) \- substitute "cauliflower rice" for noodles for lower carbs) \-
Pan-fried salmon w/asparagus or green beans (cooked in butter, garlic, and
salt)

I wish someone had shown me the joys of a frying pan and sea salt before. It's
brilliant. I feel so gourmet now. ;)

~~~
shadowpwner
As a side note, the website is Jamie Oliver, a major player in convincing
people on eating healthy. If you haven't seen his TED Talk, I would encourage
you to: <http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html>. He also starred in a
reality-esque (not sure of the proper term, don't watch TV) TV-show called
Food Revolution, attempting to bring healthy food to elementary schools.

------
michaelchisari
I grew up with a pretty strong culinary tradition (Sicilian-American), and it
was only when I left home around 17/18 that I realized how privileged I was to
have a grown up with a father and grandfather that were extraordinary cooks.
My grandfather was master baker at Gonnella for decades, a genius in many
ways, and my father is easily following in his footsteps.

My family was not rich, but I would not have traded their cooking skills to
have grown up eating in the most expensive restaurants.

It was not unusual growing up to have homemade bread around.

[http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-
snc4/hs887.snc4/72084...](http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-
snc4/hs887.snc4/72084_1507521417181_1508676473_31100003_2373676_n.jpg) (From
my dad's fb)

My father bakes pastries as a hobby, at one point, he made three large bins
full of different types of cookies because work was slow and he needed to keep
busy.

[http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-
snc1/hs124.snc1/5331_...](http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-
snc1/hs124.snc1/5331_1078752418224_1508676473_30208370_1023986_n.jpg)

While my grandfather was more traditionally Sicilian in his style, my father
is more Chicago. His deep dish pizza will knock your socks off, and sausage
and peppers with fresh baked Italian bread is the stuff of champions.

[http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-
snc1/v1976/129/117/510...](http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-
snc1/v1976/129/117/510304405/n510304405_1060548_3762.jpg) (Arancini, Octopus
salad, Pasta salad, and Caponata)

I always took it for granted. When I moved out, I missed it. As I got older, I
praised it. When my grandfather died, and I realized that I had spent a solid
week talking about food, even the Priest talked about it, I realized that I
need to get serious about doing it. When my father passes, it's up to me and
my brothers to keep things going. Without it, all I have is the name.

So I'm a big advocate of building and rebuilding a culinary culture. It's easy
for me, because mine never disappeared, but I understand it's more difficult
for others whose families immigrated earlier, or whose cultures were purposely
stamped out, to build that. And I think, for most people it's about enjoying
cooking, and understanding the ingredients, for me, a culinary culture can't
just be about assembly. It's about everything from philosophy to ideology, sex
and love, family, emotion and science. And so much a person's personality and
memory is wrapped up in how and what they cook. This Christmas, the first
Christmas without my grandfather, my father made a traditional Christmas
dinner, and it was heaven. One of the dishes was called Scacciata, a salty
bread with tuma cheese that's just incredible. It was wonderful, but it was
uniquely my father's creation, and I realized that I would never have it
exactly the way my grandfather made it ever again.

I love America, but to be completely honest, the only thing I've ever
considered emigrating over is the food culture. I get so envious of other
countries that if I ever I do decide to leave (doubtful), that will be the
reason.

This was long and somewhat meandering, but I'll leave you with this final
scene from The Big Night, one of my favorite movies:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oerP7FRMWa8>

~~~
tptacek
Big Night: also a great startup movie.

I might take issue with the (implied) assertion that Chicago lacks a food
culture, or that the average citizen of (say) Rome is necessarily steeped in
one.

~~~
michaelchisari
Chicago has a restaurant culture, a particularly fantastic one (in my opinion
the best in the U.S.), but I don't know if I consider that the same as a food
culture. While there are some pretty good open markets, it's nothing like
you'd get in Rome or Paris, and the idea of taking a three hours for lunch
would get you laughed out of the workplace.

~~~
tptacek
We also have the Green Market and a smattering of farmer's markets, Paulina
Meat Market, next week we'll have Rob & Allie's Butcher & Larder for traceably
farm-to-table meat, sometime next year we'll have Paul Kahan's butcher
project, and we have Fox & Obel for stuff like duck legs and hanger steaks.
Lots of great bakeries, too. And that's before you get into the Mexican and
Asian groceries.

I'm watching Big Night again tonight thanks to you. Thanks!

~~~
michaelchisari
I mean, I don't mean to disparage Chicago, I love this city (and hell yeah to
Paulina Meat Market, that place is one of my favorites). I just don't think
generally that Chicago has the kind of culinary culture that European cities
do, and most of it comes from it's recent immigrants, although it's streets
ahead of anywhere in the U.S., no doubt.

BTW, I've been trying to find an actual Timpano recipe for years, but as far
as I can tell, it's either a creation for the movie, or it's such an obscure
regional food that it's hard to find any authentic recipes, although there are
plenty of really good approximations.

~~~
tptacek
"Streets ahead"? :)

Try: Google [timpano casserole -"big night"]; first result is a credible book
reference with a recipe.

We need to figure out a way to do some kind of startup supper club in Chicago.

~~~
michaelchisari
_We need to figure out a way to do some kind of startup supper club in
Chicago._

I'm down.

------
chrisaycock
"Why I Don't Cook at Home" from _The Oatmeal_ :

<http://theoatmeal.com/comics/cook_home>

(I myself do cook, but I also go out when I need a break from my own cooking.)

~~~
tptacek
"I don't cook because I don't decide what to eat until I am so hungry that a
Chinese take-out leaflet is appealing, and when I tried to make bison
casserole with an empty fridge instead of ordering Chinese, it didn't work out
for me". Got it, Oatmeal.

Sorry, did I kill the frog?

~~~
kd0amg
That summary looks about right to me. Though there is probably some value in
pointing out that a lot of people who try to get into cooking really don't
know where to start and end up looking in exactly the wrong place, e.g. a
recipe dependent on a large number of specialty items (I'm certainly not going
to start my brother on something like that).

------
Evgeny
_a stir-fry, a chopped salad, and the basic combination of rice and lentils,
all of which are easy enough to learn in one lesson_

Well, fried eggs with bacon or whatever else you want them with are quite easy
to learn and quick to cook.

Also, I've learned to cook steaks recently, it's actually super easy - just
heat the pan, cook 1 side for two minutes, turn over and cook the other side
for two minutes!

~~~
tptacek
Or get a cheap-o RC880 rice cooker and a $120 Auber PID controller and some
ziploc bags, and you can make absolutely foolproof steaks, pork chops, chicken
breasts, duck legs, rabbit, beaver tail, and what-have-you just by pushing a
couple buttons.

It blows my mind that more hackers don't cook sous-vide.

~~~
patrickgzill
I saw a sous-vide being advertised for about $300 from Costco; so surely more
people are becoming aware of it!

------
tomkinstinch
I find it appalling that there are adults who are unable to prepare food for
themselves.

I'm a college student. I cook every day by choice, not for financial reasons
(though it is less expensive). For me, cooking has manifold appeal. Through
cooking it is possible to:

* Cook meals that taste better than those that come from a restaurant or out of a box. This takes quality ingredients and some skill. Those just getting started with cooking may not make anything that rivals food from a fine restaurant, but with practice it's possible. I can adjust recipes to my own tastes, or invent my own recipes by combining ingredients in ways that I think will work well. Recipes are simply lists of instructions that consistently yield good food, and are not unlike programs. The ingredients are the parameters, and recipe steps are functions. Execute the program correctly, and quality food will be returned. Functions are modular, and learned techniques can be adapted to new foods. It's about "understanding" ingredients and styles of cooking. Think of a cookbook as lessons on culinary design patterns.

* Eat healty fare. By cooking, I can prepare meals with balanced levels of nutrients. For me, that means hitting the major food groups, with reduced levels of refined carbohydrates and salt. Unlike packaged food, what I cook for myself has low levels of preservatives, no synthetic flavors, and no artificial colorants. Once you start to cook for yourself, food from chain restaurants and prepackaged food begin to taste like cardboard. I also have anaphylactic allergy to certain foods, so for me it is also a way to ensure that meals are safe.

* Save time. Cooking can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days, depending on the meal. I can prepare food in bulk, and either eat for the week or freeze food for the future. I regularly have homemade chicken stock on hand and frozen in the freezer. It has less salt and more flavor than store bought stock, and costs nearly nothing to produce.

* Relax and enjoy myself. I have other hobbies, but I cook for leisure. For me, spending an hour or two to prepare food is better sitting in front of a video game or television. I can move around a kitchen, experience a variety of smells, sights, and sounds--without leaving the house. It gives me great pleasure to cook with others, and to share good food with friends. Unlike alcohol or other staples of revelry, food is life-sustaining--we have to eat.

* Be a responsible consumer. Sustainability has become a buzzword these days, but cooking is one surefire way to reduce our environmental impact. Food I prepare myself does not depend on a factory system for production, packaging, or marketing. Where I live, in Rochester, NY, we are fortunate to have a fantastic farmer's market. I go to the market each Saturday and buy enough food for a week for less than the cost of a single meal at a mid-range independent restaurant. I don't usually go with specific recipes in mind. I typically buy vegetables that are in season, or those that look particularly fresh. I can talk to the men and women who grow the food. In an economy dominated by corporations, monetary voting is one of the most important actions we can take. I cast my ballot for local food. It supports the regional economy, and local food does not need to be trucked in. Local food it is allowed to truly ripen, and it does not lose nutrients on cross-country journeys.

* Experience aspects of other cultures. I have roommates of European, Hispanic, Russian, and Indian heritage, and we each approach food differently. The cabinets in my house are stocked with all kinds of spices, for different kinds of traditional meals. I've experienced new flavors, and truly learned which ones I enjoy. I've come to revelations that some recipes from my German grandmother may, just maybe, taste better with a little dhal or mole.

I consider myself fortunate to have parents who, while modest cooks, instilled
in me the importance of knowing how to cook. Cooking is traditionally
something passed down within families. By forgetting to cook, we lose that
part of our heritage.

\---

Cooking is a perfect hacker activity, in my opinion. It is systematic, affords
many of the same challenges as a chemical experiment, and has countless
variations.

When I cook, I think about how salt, temperature, pressure, and humidity can
each help me in the kitchen. Knowing about vapor pressure, osmotic balance,
chemistry, and biology can only contribute toward good meals.

I enjoy knowing what happens when I deglaze a pan with wine, sear meat, use a
pressure cooker, and I enjoy when I sneak a vacuum pump into the kitchen to
help with marinades or sauce reduction.

\---

So you want to cook, you say? What gear do you need? I’m sure others here
would be able to offer better advice, but I'd suggest a heavy sauce pan (I
prefer cast iron or stainless steel, though I use a non-stick pan for omlets),
an 8-10" chef knife (with something to sharpen it, like a sharpening steel or
an upside-down ceramic coffee mug), a large stock pot (with cover), a large
cutting board, wooden spatulas, a whisk, a roasting pan, mixing bowls,
measuring spoons and cups (and/or a scale), tongs, and a strainer. There are
countless other implements, but the aforementioned will get you 80% there. A
thermometer can be handy if you're cautious or curious.

------
nazgulnarsil
I began eating red beans and rice (plus peppers, onions, and garlic, never
ever gets old) a year ago as a staple and the improvement in my health has
been noticeable. I have put on 25 pounds of 90% muscle and have stabilized
near my ideal "fighting weight" again.

~~~
spacemanaki
It made me smile to see this note at the bottom of pg's essay on ramen-
profitability:

<http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html#f1n>

------
marze
The author leaves out one advantage of not eating out so much, cost.

It is difficult to spend more on ingredients for a home cooked meal than a
nice restaurant meal would cost, and not hard to spend a lot less.

The downside is time, but the upside of is a fun cooking hobby.

~~~
tptacek
It is definitely not harder to spend more cooking at home than eating out. You
just have to geek out, just a little bit, and not shop at supermarkets.

Note also that if you eat meat but won't eat Tyson chicken or Swift pork, your
meal cost is automatically higher than most midrange restaurant meals --- but
then again, those restaurants are probably serving you wholesale chicken &
pork from the same crappy sources.

~~~
marze
If you consider a "nice restaurant meal" to cost $25 or more, I assert it is
hard to spend $25 on ingredients for one home cooked meal.

It is fairly easy to spend more than a "dollar menu fast food meal".

------
tgflynn
I'd rather build one than become one.

[http://www.willowgarage.com/blog/2010/10/21/tum-rosie-and-
pr...](http://www.willowgarage.com/blog/2010/10/21/tum-rosie-and-pr2-james-
make-pancakes-together)

