i've been wondering for months if
michael pollan might be wrong. not entirely, of course, but maybe just a bit. basically i think he is brilliant and i am all for the changes he wants to see in modern agriculture, grocery stores, the food industry and my kitchen. this is about that
nyt article he wrote that declares people are watching tv cooks cooking, but not cooking anymore at home themselves. obviously michael and i travel in different circles. everyone i know, both my virtual and real life friends, cook more and more at home. and they are cooking beautiful, inspired and ambitious dishes on a regular basis. and loving it. tho the habit is not new to me, i am loving it more, too.
as someone who literally learned how to cook well from watching great cooks instruct me from a tv screen, beginning with julia child and including nigella lawson, ina garten, giada de laurentiis, jacques pepin and jamie oliver. being the kind of person inspired by seeing, i get up from the couch after a good cooking show to tie on my apron, start a shopping list or dig thru a cookbook. watching cooking makes me want to cook. watching project runway makes me want to sew. walking thru an art museum or gallery makes me want to paint or collage or build something or take more photos. that's how my brain works and maybe i just assumed everybody else's does the same.
upon reflection, i agree with his observations about the competitive shows. watching top chef does not make me want to cook.
which brings me to another thought, on one of the lessons i learned from those great cooks i was watching... resting. if no one had ever taught me to let meat rest after the grilling, roasting or searing it had been thru, i wouldn't have come up with the idea myself. i wouldn't have known instinctively to fold a foil tent and tuck the pork loin, steak or chicken under it, to sit still for five or ten minutes (continuing to cook and holding in juices) before the eager knife blade did it's work.
so now we let everything rest. the pizza with the bubbling, browning cheese (and lethally hot tomato sauce), the soup just off the boil, cookies from the oven and even the lattes. no small feat for two ravenously hungry cooks most days.
how much more delicious everything tastes when it's temperature cools from inferno to a pleasing warmth. how lovely to distinguish each flavor without scalding our mouths. gradually we look around us and begin to apply the concept of letting things rest to more than just the cooking. and we are pleasantly surprised by how well it works in almost every application.
well, that kind of rambled on and on... i think i'll give it a rest now.