Cooking In A Dangerous Time

So, we’re all stuck indoors for a few weeks (at least, we should be, social distancing! Look it up, people!), so that means that for the most part a lot of us are going to be doing more home cooking than usual. As a (former) professional chef, I can tell you that I did not do very much cooking at home seeing as I did it at work for ten to twelve hours straight, five to six days a week. I would get home and just want to sit on the couch. My local crappy pizza joint knew me by name. I was a VIP on SkipTheDishes and UberEats. My fiancee did most of the cooking back then and I kept telling myself I was just too tired to do it, even on my days off.

But, isn’t that what got me into the business in the first place? Cooking delicious food for people I love so they can eat it and tell me how great I am? That’s the best part of the job, right? When a guest takes the time to tell you that they really, truly enjoyed their meal it can make a hellish night seem serene for a few moments. It’s quite literally “why we do it”, so why don’t most cooks do it at home?

For most of us, exhaustion is the first and foremost reason. Cooking professionally is a full-body grind. It takes a toll on you, and that’s even if you don’t engage in the after-hour activities that are oh so prevalent in our culture. A lot of the time we’re just too damn tired to cook after work, especially if it’s just for ourselves. And that’s a legit reason. But, what about on our days off?

My usual days off consisted of sleeping as late as I could, frantically doing laundry, then going out to dinner. When we have free time, sure it’s nice to experience the cooking of others, be taken care of, see what our contemporaries are doing. But, in this current climate, that’s not going to be happening so much. And since we’re all getting a much needed break, fatigue won’t be playing into our lives as much, either. Thus, I say this to you: rediscover the joys of cooking at home for your loved ones. So what if your home kitchen is a tiny, little armpit? So what if you don’t have the fucking day guys doing all your mise en place?

Enjoy the act of cooking again, even for yourself.

You can enjoy that you’re in the driver’s seat, you can cook whatever the hell you want. Enjoy being less precise than you are at work. Do you think I ever brunoise shit at home? Fuck no, family. Enjoy making simple, delicious, heart-warming food for people you love and, I cannot stress this enough, you should be one of those people. Cook well for yourself, it’s one of the nicest things you can do for yourself, especially now that we all have a little more time to.