6 ms·

My dad was a chef, so I'm used to cooking. I've taught several friends how to cook. Universally, the feedback is "I didn't know cooking was this easy." It reall

by lmkg 17y ago

My dad was a chef, so I'm used to cooking. I've taught several friends how to cook. Universally, the feedback is "I didn't know cooking was this easy." It really doesn't take much more than 15 minutes and basic literacy to make dinner for yourself, plus it's cheaper and healthier.

jerf 17y ago
I partially (though I don't know how much) blame the infantalization of children. There's no reason a 15-year-old can't cook a full dinner for the family, except that cooking is "too hard" for "children". And the only thing that made me go up to 15 is safety, 12 or 13 is probably enough on average. I'm not saying this should be a regular responsibility, but they should be capable of it. I wish my parents had let me cook more. I recovered in college and now I cook a lot, but there was no reason I should have needed to wait until I was not in the dorm anymore.
- HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
  I really, really think you're right! I learned to cook because I grew up in a house where meals were cooked, not ordered out. I was making simple dishes and baking cakes on my own by age 10. Likewise, my 9 year-old son is learning to cook from me. He likes helping and the look of pride on his face when I let him make up a batch of meatballs from scratch (everything except putting them in the oven) because I was busy with something else had to be seen to be believed. Even something as simple as letting a child mix some ingredients helps. They learn mise en place, how to use kitchen tools properly, basic kitchen hygiene and the overriding idea that everyone can cook!
- pbhjpbhj 17y ago
  My Mum taught me to cook quite well by being a good example but most of the technical skill I learnt in Home Economics at high school. Peeling potatoes with my 4 year old is a test of nerve though - suprised I still have all my fingers left (I hold the spuds, he attacks with the peeler!). I'm aiming for him making cooked breakfast by 7 and meals by the time he starts high school. By then he'll be messing around with sharp knives and fire by himself so no reason why he can't do that and be productive ...
tptacek 17y ago
It's not really cheaper unless you make an effort to be cheaper (by making rice-and-beans style food, or by being careful with portions and leftovers). It definitely tastes better and it's probably healthier.
- RyanMcGreal 17y ago
  Most of the ostensible value of prepared food is made possible through the false economy of massive public subsidies for the commodity crops that make up the bulk of manufactured food products.
  - tptacek 17y ago
    Which has absolutely nothing to do with your monthly food budget.
    - RyanMcGreal 17y ago
      Where do you think the money to pay for those subsidies comes from? (Note: the response "my grandchildren" is technically correct but misses the point.)
      - tptacek 17y ago
        A lot of things are "cheaper" if by "cheaper" you mean "supports a political viewpoint that asserts that things will be cheaper in some abstract future where a critical mass of people adopt that viewpoint" instead of "cheaper". In reality, when you cook, you're either (a) paying much more for food by buying local, humane, or organic, or (b) partaking in the same factory system that McDonalds does. In fact, McDonalds and Chipotle are doing much more to promote sustainability than the typical home cook is.
        RyanMcGreal 17y ago
        I'm not talking about some magical hippie love future in which everyone chooses to go local, organic and vegan. I'm talking about material, measurable public subsidies to specific agricultural practices that allow companies to sell their products at far below the cost of production and hence distort the market for those products.

by lmkg 17y ago

jerf 17y ago

I partially (though I don't know how much) blame the infantalization of children. There's no reason a 15-year-old can't cook a full dinner for the family, except that cooking is "too hard" for "children". And the only thing that made me go up to 15 is safety, 12 or 13 is probably enough on average. I'm not saying this should be a regular responsibility, but they should be capable of it. I wish my parents had let me cook more. I recovered in college and now I cook a lot, but there was no reason I should have needed to wait until I was not in the dorm anymore.

HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
I really, really think you're right! I learned to cook because I grew up in a house where meals were cooked, not ordered out. I was making simple dishes and baking cakes on my own by age 10. Likewise, my 9 year-old son is learning to cook from me. He likes helping and the look of pride on his face when I let him make up a batch of meatballs from scratch (everything except putting them in the oven) because I was busy with something else had to be seen to be believed. Even something as simple as letting a child mix some ingredients helps. They learn mise en place, how to use kitchen tools properly, basic kitchen hygiene and the overriding idea that everyone can cook!
pbhjpbhj 17y ago
My Mum taught me to cook quite well by being a good example but most of the technical skill I learnt in Home Economics at high school. Peeling potatoes with my 4 year old is a test of nerve though - suprised I still have all my fingers left (I hold the spuds, he attacks with the peeler!). I'm aiming for him making cooked breakfast by 7 and meals by the time he starts high school. By then he'll be messing around with sharp knives and fire by himself so no reason why he can't do that and be productive ...

tptacek 17y ago

It's not really cheaper unless you make an effort to be cheaper (by making rice-and-beans style food, or by being careful with portions and leftovers). It definitely tastes better and it's probably healthier.

RyanMcGreal 17y ago
Most of the ostensible value of prepared food is made possible through the false economy of massive public subsidies for the commodity crops that make up the bulk of manufactured food products.
- tptacek 17y ago
  Which has absolutely nothing to do with your monthly food budget.
  - RyanMcGreal 17y ago
    Where do you think the money to pay for those subsidies comes from? (Note: the response "my grandchildren" is technically correct but misses the point.)
    - tptacek 17y ago
      A lot of things are "cheaper" if by "cheaper" you mean "supports a political viewpoint that asserts that things will be cheaper in some abstract future where a critical mass of people adopt that viewpoint" instead of "cheaper". In reality, when you cook, you're either (a) paying much more for food by buying local, humane, or organic, or (b) partaking in the same factory system that McDonalds does. In fact, McDonalds and Chipotle are doing much more to promote sustainability than the typical home cook is.
      - RyanMcGreal 17y ago
        I'm not talking about some magical hippie love future in which everyone chooses to go local, organic and vegan. I'm talking about material, measurable public subsidies to specific agricultural practices that allow companies to sell their products at far below the cost of production and hence distort the market for those products.