Home > Everyday Gourmet > Archives > 2009 > July > 18 > Entry
Too many cooks in the kitchen? Never! The more the merrier!
By Guest Writer, Dee Howard, TX.
If you’ve ever worked in the kitchen with me, you know to stay clear of the sharp knives and to watch out for sudden dashes to a sauté pan as I give some vegetables a quick toss. I am a whirlwind of activity as I make dinner or lunch for my family. And while my family is generous in their praise of my meals, I have a suspicion that I’m doing it all wrong.
You see, I’m the cook that never needs any help in the kitchen. I tell you to sit back and pour yourself a glass of wine; don’t trouble yourself. I’ll take care of everything. You, my guest, then turn around and go mingle with the other bystanders, both of us missing out on an opportunity to get to know one another better. I’m also the cook who shoos the little ones out of the way of hot pans and runs them off to play in another room. I love kids but the kitchen can be a dangerous place for little fingers, right? But how are children supposed to learn the safe way to use knives and hot pans without experience preparing their own food? I live by the saying that if you want something done fast, do it yourself. But maybe it isn’t always about getting it done fast…
Cooking with other people has many benefits that far outweigh the advantages of getting a meal prepared quickly. Many people would agree that eating meals together as a family forges strong bonds between parents and children but preparing food together as a family also encourages family communication and cooperation. For children, helping out in the kitchen builds appreciation for the food being served, pride in helping feed the family, and, most importantly, life skills for adulthood because at some point we all cook for ourselves. As a professional cook, I am often flabbergasted by the lack of basic food handling safety on the part of the general public and I think the absence of children in the family kitchen is a big contributing factor. When great grandma taught your grandmother to make her famous fried chicken, she wasn’t just teaching her the secret seven spices. She was also imparting basic butchering skills, temperature control, and stove safety (although she might not have realized it). Making kids a part of the cooking process from a young age helps them in ways much more important than getting a meal served quickly.
Cooking together doesn’t just have benefits for parents and kids, though. Adults, too, bond through communal food preparation. It’s no coincidence that most dates revolve around dinners out together. Feeding each other is about as instinctive as it gets. So how much more intimate is a meal prepared together! You can learn a lot from how your partner works with you in the kitchen. Sure, at first there will be a lot of stepped on toes and maybe even a cut or two, but learning to cook together is a lot like learning to dance: it takes practice.
Living in Japan opened my eyes to communal cooking. Japan has many ways for people to enjoy cooking together from restaurants where you cook your own seafood pancakes to the world famous suki-yaki, which is surprisingly easy to prepare at home. The Japanese love to cook and eat together and it’s something I wish we Americans would pick up on. Getting together with my friends in Japan to make and fry gyoza dumplings or attending company outings to the local shabu-shabu restaurant are some of my favorite and most lasting memories of Japan. The bonds of friendship were forged in the fires of those communal cooking pots. One Japanese food that I think is particularly well adapted to the American lifestyle is sushi rolls. It is portable finger food that can be made to suit any taste and it’s the perfect food to make in the group setting. On one hand, each individual can fill the roll with whatever suits his own tastes, but, on the other hand, the basic roll is simple seaweed and rice which everyone can enjoy the challenge of rolling. I love teaching people to make sushi rolls because once someone learns how to make a sushi roll, he usually wants to show his friends and the knowledge just spreads from there. Sushi rolls are fun to make at parties or even to make with kids as an appetizer or a meal. Will you be an expert after only rolling a few sushi rolls? Probably not. But it’s the challenge of getting it right that leads to big rewards because there’s no better feeling than serving a plate full of beautiful sushi to your guests. I love serving sushi rolls to my friends and family and that’s something I wouldn’t be able to do if other chefs hadn’t slowed down and taught me.
Teaching what I’ve learned from so many Japanese master cooks is one way I honor that debt. I’m always looking for better ways to teach the beauty of Japanese food. Japanese food has changed the way I think about food (but that’s for another blog post!) and I love sharing that knowledge with others. So when I can remember, I do slow down and let people help me cook in the kitchen. I’m a better cook for it.
Dee Howard is teaching Sushi at Gourmet Gallery on Friday, July 24th at 5:30pm. Cost is $55/person. Contact Gourmet Gallery for reservations 399-0429.
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Comments
By Mrs Miller
July 20, 2009 6:00 PM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
A very nice piece and so important, I think about working and eating together. Good luck with the class.
By TJ
July 24, 2009 2:36 PM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
One of the most fulfilling “communal” cooking experiences of my life was about 15 years ago, when I was living in South Carolina. My older sister Kathleen and I volunteered to make Christmas cookies with the children of the women living at our local battered women’s shelter. The ladies got a mommies’ day-out and we got the time of our lives with these kids who were so grateful for the attention. They all wanted to take turns pouring the milk, cracking the eggs, stirring in the chips, etc. And they loved getting to decorate the results anyway they pleased with the colored sugars, candy beads, coconut shreds and the like. The kitchen was a mess, of course, but a very happy place warmed by smiles.