Food Preparation

Okay, so for this post I’d like to describe the process by which I prepare a meal for my assigned cooking day, Wednesday. Typically, I begin thinking about which meal to cook for the house on Tuesday night. What this usually consists of is me having a vague idea of what food item I’d like to use, and then an online search of different websites to find a recipe that incorporates the item in a tasteful and slightly challenging manner. For instance, last week I really wanted to incorporate mushrooms into my meal, so I found two recipes that included the fungus, and proceeded to follow the recipe to the tee.

Upon finding the recipe online (often times from foodnetwork.com or allrecipes.com) I print out the ingredient list and bike to the local grocery store after class on Wednesday. Berkeley Bowl always has every item that I need, so I usually spend about forty-five minutes walking through its aisles locating one item at a time. Once the all the ingredients have been collected I bike back home and by that time it’s usually late enough to begin cooking.

Last week I cooked a “Hungarian Mushroom Soup” and a “Vegetable Pot Pie”, both of which incorporated mushrooms. After getting home and unloading all the required items I start the prep work. For this particular meal this meant that I had to cut and chop really large amounts of mushrooms, carrots, onions, parsley, potatoes, chives, paprika, and fennel (which was my first time using this vegetable). After doing all the chopping I felt kind of overwhelmed by the mass piles of raw vegetables that I saw sitting on my kitchen table.

From there, I tried to work out the timing of when each step of the cooking process would be done, so as to have the whole meal come together at the end, about an hour and a half later. So, overcoming my sense of uneasiness regarding the work that was to come, I began following the instructions for each recipe, one step at a time. Fortunately, once things started cooking and the mountains of vegetables were reduced upon being added in, I started to feel much more confident. While the pot pie was in the oven and the soup was simmering, I was able to put together a quick salad of spinach, tomatoes, walnuts, and raspberries.

About an hour and a half after starting the process, the soup, the pot pie, and the salad were all set on the table, ready to be eaten. At that point I knocked on my roommates doors and they emerged to help me eat all that I had prepared. Luckily, everything came out amazing, and I was rewarded by compliments for both dishes. The sense of accomplishment that I felt upon hearing their comments made the whole process well worth it, especially after having overcome the sense of bewilderment that I first felt upon completing the prep work. Soon after starting the meal the whole house was sufficiently full, so much so that I had leftovers that provided a wonderful lunch the next day.

Below are the links for both recipes, both of which I highly recommend:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aida-mollenkamp/vegetarian-pot-pie-recipe/index.html

http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2007/05/hungarian-mushroom-soup.html

About Food

Prior to moving out of my parents’ house I had not considered food to be a topic worthy of deep considerations. As is illustrated by this blog, my thoughts on food have greatly changed since then. Although I had always enjoyed eating, my appreciation for excellent food previously emerged only upon having a plate set in front of me and it ended with my last bite. I had put little thought into the origins of my food, the content of what was being eaten, and the all the work that was being done in terms of preparing and cooking the meal. However, studying Urban Agriculture, nutrition, and food justice issues, in addition to cooking my own meals, has allowed me to really think about food in a holistic way, as a source of sustenance that can be made into an amazing meal while also being nutritious and sustainably produced.

For me, food has become a part of my life that demands much more attention that it once had. I realize that in order to treat my body in a respectful manner I must feed it high quality meals. Not only is food a way to improve my physical health, it has also become a way for me to work on my emotional wellbeing. I’ve found that eating a great meal really improves my mood, which in turn leads to a happier, healthier Erick.

Along those same lines, putting the time and effort into learning a new dish that ends up turning out better than expected has provided a weekly dose of therapeutic relief. Cooking allows me to perfect a project on a weekly basis, and the satisfaction that comes after spending one to two hours working on a meal is unlike any that I had previously experienced. Cooking has become like yoga for me, in that it offers a new challenge every week while also providing me with an opportunity to slow down and take a break from an ever increasingly stressful school workload. Overall, cooking offers a sort of relief valve by which I am able to de-stress and improve upon a very practical and useful skill.