Why do you Cook?

Tweet

I cook because I am fascinated by combining different flavours, textures and nutritions (and because I enjoy food). I think I must have always been interested because there is a recipe which I wrote down when I was about five (involving a great deal of parsley and apples - even at that age, I was clearly intrigued by unusual combinations, though I don’t believe we ever actually tried making the recipe!). I suppose that, really, I like to cook because my mother was good at it and enjoyed it (I think that she enjoyed baking most. Feeding the family during wartime was just a necessity which she accomplished with success). My favourite types of dish today are soups (French Onion is one I do often because it’s cheap and easy, if time-consuming, and is different every time; Fennel and Coconut is one which was a modest success in creativity and fusion of flavours) and casserole dishes - I am a big fan of slow cooking. Some people cook because they always have done so and because people need feeding, others can do basic stuff but are frightened to try anything more complicated and some don’t cook because, I suppose, they have no need to and baked beans on toast or scrambled eggs is just about their limit. What are your own feelings about cooking? Do you like to cook for the sake of it, do you simply do it as a necessary part of house-keeping or is it something you try to avoid? Who is the main cook in your household and why? Do you have preferences or strengths in what you cook? Mr O. would love to know!