4 ms·

I figure the main difficulty lies in the "economics" part of "home economics". There's a huge efficiency difference between "cooking every day" and "only cooki

by mhink 11y ago

I figure the main difficulty lies in the "economics" part of "home economics". There's a huge efficiency difference between "cooking every day" and "only cooking occasionally". The only way to benefit from cooking at home is if you accept the ongoing cost of keeping essentials stocked. Then, you have to accept that you're going to waste a considerable amount of money and time while you're learning to cook. When I started, it sometimes took an hour or more to get food on the table because I hadn't figured out mise en place. Then, when I did, I ruined more than one dish because I lost track of things and something got overcooked or burnt. Finally, I've had a certain amount of food go to waste because of bad planning- perhaps I bought too much for the week, and then went shopping the next week without keeping the existing "stock" in mind. These are all huge stumbling blocks- especially when it's so easy to just order take-out, which will at least be consistently edible, with the added bonus of not resulting in wasted ingredients. What ultimately turned it around for me was when my girlfriend and I decided to fully commit to cooking at home, and went and spent $150 on groceries- but instead of buying ingredients, we bought pantry essentials. Flour, sugar, baling powder, baking soda, cornmeal, table and kosher salt, seasonings, potatoes, rice, pasta, and so on. Not to mention an initial stock of perishable basics: onions, garlic, lemons, limes, milk, butter, eggs, and cheese. While it left a dent in our wallet at the time, it turned out to be a game-changer. We found that it was immensely easier to plan meals, because we already had half the ingredients of any given recipe. This is a huge societal problem, in my opinion. I'm a pretty privileged dude when it comes down to it, and I was able to absorb the inefficiency of not being able to cook at home while still eating pretty healthy food. Furthermore, I was able to get over the hump of figuring out how to cook on my own, because I had the resources to absorb the inefficiency of learning how to do it. What about the folks that can't?

brandonmenc 11y ago
Most pantry essentials are only purchased once or twice a year. So, you just spend a year accumulating that stuff, and eat beans and rice in the meantime. And you buy cheap. A jar of spice from McCormick might cost five bucks, but you can get the same amount in a plastic bag at the bodega for a dollar. And really, you don't need two kinds of salt. If you're one of the fortunate poor, your immigrant parents/grandparents have already taught you how to cook. It's really quite a foreign idea to me that cooking for yourself is expensive, even though I hear that all the time from people my age and younger. Maybe they all think you need to cook elaborate meals. But when you look at the way immigrants cook, it's really just a small set of cheap ingredients combined a bunch of different ways.
- exstudent2 11y ago
  To be fair, the way most immigrants cook isn't really replicable by people who are working. It may be cheap in terms of ingredients but in traditional immigrant households the mother and often grandmother don't have jobs and stay at home all day cooking. They use cheap ingredients but it's a TON of work. When my wife's mom (who's not from the US) comes to visit, she starts cooking early in the morning and doesn't finish until dinner. It probably takes longer than it would if she had her flow setup since she has to prepare basics that we don't have ready, but still a lot of traditional dishes take a lot of time. Things are often slow cooked for example because cheap cuts of meat are used and you need to do that to make them edible. Most office workers won't have time to do that.
  - brandonmenc 11y ago
    > Things are often slow cooked Buy a slow cooker (aka crock pot) and leave it running while you're at work. > They use cheap ingredients but it's a TON of work. Do this type of cooking for your meal bases in a single day. In my house, mom worked 40 hours but would get a giant pot of red sauce and a giant pot of pasta e fagioli going on Saturday morning - maybe 30-60 minutes of prep, then all day to cook - unattended except for the occasional stir. This would yield enough soup and sauce for a week of dinners for a family of four - just add pasta. Friends from other backgrounds describe similar techniques with things like refried beans, etc.
Symbiote 11y ago
Don't wealthier Americans learn these skills at college? I learnt how to cook properly at university (UK). I'd watched my mum a fair amount growing up, and in the final few weeks before I left she showed me things like how to shallow fry chicken, or check it was cooked. I ate takeaway on the day I arrived, since everyone was too drunk, but on Sunday I paired up with people living on the same floor and cooked with them for the rest of the year. It cost a fraction of what takeaway food would have cost, and we weren't trying to be super cheap.
- Symbiote 11y ago
  "Wealthy" was the wrong word — I meant anyone that goes to university, at least. I emigrated six weeks ago, so I have to restart my "pantry essentials". I didn't buy everything in the first week, I will buy things gradually. I bought things like canned tomatoes, mixed herbs, pepper, salt; plus things that are used a lot quicker (rice, butter, noodles, onions, garlic). Last week I fancied Thai food, so I bought some fish sauce, lemongrass etc. It will take a year before I have all the spices and sauces I left behind.
- morgante 11y ago
  > Don't wealthier Americans learn these skills at college? No. The vast majority of college students I know don't cook. They either eat in dining halls or get take-out.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > Don't wealthier Americans learn these skills at college? Some learn while in college, but lots just buy a meal plan from the school or get takeout a lot (and/or "instant meals") and learn nothing about cooking. > I'd watched my mum a fair amount growing up, and in the final few weeks before I left she showed me things like how to shallow fry chicken, or check it was cooked. It seems to me lots of Americans don't get even this level of basics (and, with it, the confidence to actually be willing to try things in the kitchen) growing up, and that that's the problem.

by mhink 11y ago

brandonmenc 11y ago

Most pantry essentials are only purchased once or twice a year. So, you just spend a year accumulating that stuff, and eat beans and rice in the meantime. And you buy cheap. A jar of spice from McCormick might cost five bucks, but you can get the same amount in a plastic bag at the bodega for a dollar. And really, you don't need two kinds of salt. If you're one of the fortunate poor, your immigrant parents/grandparents have already taught you how to cook. It's really quite a foreign idea to me that cooking for yourself is expensive, even though I hear that all the time from people my age and younger. Maybe they all think you need to cook elaborate meals. But when you look at the way immigrants cook, it's really just a small set of cheap ingredients combined a bunch of different ways.

exstudent2 11y ago
To be fair, the way most immigrants cook isn't really replicable by people who are working. It may be cheap in terms of ingredients but in traditional immigrant households the mother and often grandmother don't have jobs and stay at home all day cooking. They use cheap ingredients but it's a TON of work. When my wife's mom (who's not from the US) comes to visit, she starts cooking early in the morning and doesn't finish until dinner. It probably takes longer than it would if she had her flow setup since she has to prepare basics that we don't have ready, but still a lot of traditional dishes take a lot of time. Things are often slow cooked for example because cheap cuts of meat are used and you need to do that to make them edible. Most office workers won't have time to do that.
- brandonmenc 11y ago
  > Things are often slow cooked Buy a slow cooker (aka crock pot) and leave it running while you're at work. > They use cheap ingredients but it's a TON of work. Do this type of cooking for your meal bases in a single day. In my house, mom worked 40 hours but would get a giant pot of red sauce and a giant pot of pasta e fagioli going on Saturday morning - maybe 30-60 minutes of prep, then all day to cook - unattended except for the occasional stir. This would yield enough soup and sauce for a week of dinners for a family of four - just add pasta. Friends from other backgrounds describe similar techniques with things like refried beans, etc.

Symbiote 11y ago

Don't wealthier Americans learn these skills at college? I learnt how to cook properly at university (UK). I'd watched my mum a fair amount growing up, and in the final few weeks before I left she showed me things like how to shallow fry chicken, or check it was cooked. I ate takeaway on the day I arrived, since everyone was too drunk, but on Sunday I paired up with people living on the same floor and cooked with them for the rest of the year. It cost a fraction of what takeaway food would have cost, and we weren't trying to be super cheap.

Symbiote 11y ago
"Wealthy" was the wrong word — I meant anyone that goes to university, at least. I emigrated six weeks ago, so I have to restart my "pantry essentials". I didn't buy everything in the first week, I will buy things gradually. I bought things like canned tomatoes, mixed herbs, pepper, salt; plus things that are used a lot quicker (rice, butter, noodles, onions, garlic). Last week I fancied Thai food, so I bought some fish sauce, lemongrass etc. It will take a year before I have all the spices and sauces I left behind.
morgante 11y ago
> Don't wealthier Americans learn these skills at college? No. The vast majority of college students I know don't cook. They either eat in dining halls or get take-out.
dragonwriter 11y ago
> Don't wealthier Americans learn these skills at college? Some learn while in college, but lots just buy a meal plan from the school or get takeout a lot (and/or "instant meals") and learn nothing about cooking. > I'd watched my mum a fair amount growing up, and in the final few weeks before I left she showed me things like how to shallow fry chicken, or check it was cooked. It seems to me lots of Americans don't get even this level of basics (and, with it, the confidence to actually be willing to try things in the kitchen) growing up, and that that's the problem.