The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Challenge of the Week: Love Food, Learn To Cook
It might come as a surprise and a shock to some people, as it did to me, and my survey of my co-workers, friends, and complete strangers, but the truth is: many people do not know how to cook. In a world of convenience, where you can run out to the store and pick up a microwavable box, or head to a fast food restaurant with a drive-through, anyone can have food in minutes. In our society, we want instant gratification, and there is no shortage of food companies willing to give us that satisfaction. As a result, a great majority of our society is losing the most basic skills that are necessary for survival: the skills of cooking.
Cooking might be as simple as boiling or scrambling an egg or heating up a pot of pasta. Unfortunately, most people cannot even do these simple tasks. Whether they care to learn or not is another story, and while instant gratification might be more appealing, it is laziness that tends to keep people from ever learning how or wanting to know how to cook. Even when offered the opportunity, they turn it down.
It is something I never took for granted and always assumed everyone was taught, learning how to put water in a pot and boil it to make pasta. I also learned how to cook eggs, though it took me a while to figure out the difference between scrambled, over-easy, and sunny-side up. I must thank both my mother and father, once again, for such a wonderful life skill that allows me to depend only on myself.
Cooking usually requires some sort of fire, water, oil, and a pan. Apply heat to the meat or other food being cooked, add some seasonings, and before you know it, you have an edible nutritious and delicious meal. Many people do love cooking and have started food blogs and websites or YouTube channels keeping their lessons short and to the point to help others learn the skills of cooking. Anyone can learn to cook. It is not as hard as some people may think.
Cooking can be fun, healthy, and delicious. Once you learn to cook, especially for others, you will find a joy in seeing how others find delight in the taste of something you cooked. Once you learn to cook, you will open up a new world, a world where you no longer have to depend on others to make you food, or go out and buy processed food that is not good for you in the long run.
Cooking remains one of the best ways to a man’s heart, and of course, having the skills to cook will impress and woo the hearts of women. Cooking is certainly not just a skill women should have, nor is it too feminine, or “for girls only” or “a woman’s job”. It is very manly and important for men to know how to cook the very meat they have obtained as well. Cooking is a human skill that everyone should possess and learn. No matter how young or old you are, you can learn how to cook and you can learn how to cook well!
This week, your challenge is to learn how to cook if you don’t already know how, or to cook something you have never cooked, if you are already a pro at cooking. Cooking is a basic human skill that came with man’s discovery of fire. Once we learned to cook, we were able to evolve faster than any other species on this planet. We became the superior and dominants beings of the planet. Cooking is one of man’s most sacred skills to have, as no other creature on this planet, has learned to harness such a powerful and amazing skill.
