Cooking is a lot like writing a poem.
Ideas whirl around in your head like ingredients you want to use.
One scrap of an idea-an open window, storm clouds, luck at choosing a perfect peach, a breeze at the back of your knees. The scrap sticks and a poem begins.
Cooking is like a poem because it draws together many ingredients-a whiff of a bay leaf releasing juices from the bones of a soup, allspice simmering in the air of apples cooking into applesauce in fall. Sniffs and whiffs of spices and herbs start a recipe moving through your head-to cook something that was not there before.
No matter how many times you've gathered ingredients to make a familiar dish, each time it is new.
A poem is made up of plain words from everyday. But something true is created in a poem; a new thing is brought to life-where it wasn't there before.
In the field
harvesters move
in time and rhythm,
work in a row
moving things forward
for one solid truth:
food must come in.
harvesters move
in time and rhythm,
work in a row
moving things forward
for one solid truth:
food must come in.
Cooking and concocting a poem-both take visualizing and work.
Think about your preparation for cooking a favorite or new dish. You visualize it in your head as you shop, as you pick up and smell the arugula or leeks or carrot tops. See the pans you will use-the 10-inch fry pan with vertical sides because it is better for sweating the veggies. The shape of the oval Dutch oven that allows for two rounded meat loafs to simmer.
Visualizing helps before getting started on cooking a new dish or creating a poem. Visualizing is key to refining a dish or a poem. And refining-or "do-overs"-are just part of all creations, whether you are a sculptor like Giacometti or competing as one of the top three chef masters.
There is no crop
that harvests itself,
no lunch that hunts up a pot,
everything is part of something else.
that harvests itself,
no lunch that hunts up a pot,
everything is part of something else.
Cooking or writing-it's never done. The process is all about constantly attempting, starting over anew.
Rhyme and rhythm help to shape a poem.
The metal of the pot changes the raw into the finished food you want.
Consider the pot:
• Here's the deal: use a pan of black steel to brown the meat-for a perfect meal
• Copper, that showstopper, but get it steel-lined for soups and sauces-tres sublime
• All clad with aluminum heat core, perfect for every morsel and more
• A cast iron skillet-keep it well seasoned browns, fries, stews and bakes an all in one pot, chefs reason
• Spare the non-stick-use for eggs alone you want pan juices and flavor--good to the bone
When you find a brand that works for you, buy the set. Or, if you cook in different ways, select each pot as you need it.
A typical kitchen might have a fry pan for a single egg and a big one for the weekend country scramble; the all-clad for risotto and mushrooms, a cast iron Dutch oven for the beans, and a stainless stock pot for a vat of chicken soup.
Match the tool to task. You don't pull a metaphor out of thin air. A poem comes from experience and reflection. Poems are like food-completed in the energy it gives off.
All cooking
with or without recipes
should feel new;
start over, and over
with each new meal
relish mistakes,
discover our lives
in a pot of stew.
with or without recipes
should feel new;
start over, and over
with each new meal
relish mistakes,
discover our lives
in a pot of stew.
What does cooking achieve?
Same thing a poem does- joy at completion:
when separate ingredients
tossed together
translate into energy
and gratitude
in faces around the table.
tossed together
translate into energy
and gratitude
in faces around the table.
Cooking matters because it's about food, and cooking always has a good story when we bring our own life matters, wisdom, joys, loves, and even some sadness to the process.
Check out http://www.cookwarematters.com/ for many ways that pots and pans add to cooking the sweet and savory.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=A_Ann_Redpath
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