I finally got around to reading Michael Pollan’s article, Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch, which was published in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. As usual Pollan is on top form in writing about the demise of home cooking and the paradoxical rise in watching TV shows about food and eating. He begins the article with the birth of food TV and Julia Child teaching a generation of women, men, and children how to cook elaborate French food and breeding confidence in the kitchen. Fast forward 40 years and people have left the kitchen in droves, only to eat take out or processed pre-made food on the couch while watching the Food Network.
I’m a huge food TV fan. I start up fantasy leagues for Top Chef and have become a recent addict to Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, as well as The Best Thing I Ever Ate (which tipped us off to two great restaurants are going to eat at when we are in LA this weekend for our wedding anniversary). But at the same time, I love to cook and do so on an everyday basis.
Even when we both had jobs, we made cooking a priority and we would spend Sunday afternoon in the kitchen together preparing homemade lunches for the week. It was not only a way that Carlo and I bonded and spent time together after a busy week at work, but it made us both feel good that we were taking the time to prepare healthy food for ourselves, a great affirmation of self love and worth.
So while I enjoyed Pollan’s article, it made me sad. Sad that the average time spent each day to prepare food is 27 minutes in America, and sad that the food marketing guru thinks that cooking may become a thing of the past for our grandchildren.
However, I hope if something positive comes out of Recession Recipes, it is that perhaps you have seen a posted recipe that has inspired you to get back into the kitchen and cook something good for yourself. I know how cooking makes me feel good and I hope we can share that feeling with our readers.
Has anyone else read Pollan’s article? I’m curious in learning what y’all think of the lack of home cooking in America, and whether you fall into that category of people out of the kitchen and onto the couch. How often do you cook at home each week? Do you cook from scratch, or do you use a lot of pre-made foods? Are you the weekend warrior cooker, or do you cook on weeknights too? I’m looking forward to hear what you have to say.
