Mindful cooking

I want to discuss mindful cooking with you in this post. It's a concept which has been rolling around in my head for awhile. What does it mean to be mindful in general? Does your attitude and state of mind even matter in the kitchen? And if so, how does one become a more mindful cook?

Most of the time, cooking is a chore. It's a necessary evil, done at the end of the day when you're exhausted and irritated. I admit that I fall into that rut as well. I much prefer to cook on my terms, when I feel like it. The problem is, when you approach any task with a bad attitude, that attitude shows in the end results. I've eaten food prepared by people who hate what they do and I could tell. I've made food for people when I've been in a bad way emotionally and they could tell. Currently, the dishes I make for family and friends are consistently praised as delicious because I love cooking for people I love and it shows. The ultimate goal in cooking should be to make the absolute best dish every time regardless of ingredient variations, different cooking environments, distractions, and lack of spices.  A good cook, a mindful cook, can improvise and think on their feet.

Some time ago, I made a pot of beef stew and my friend asked me (as she was eating her second bowl) what recipe I used.  Kind of taken aback, I said, “Well, I don’t have a recipe, I just know how to make it”, which I think astounded her.  Her husband a few days later asked me how long I cooked pasta and my knee jerk response was “until it’s done”, which I said in a much more diplomatic way—I think I said that I used the cooking time on the package as a guideline but I always checked it before draining so it was al dente.  After thinking about both interactions for a little while, I decided that the majority of people don’t know how ingredients go together or what flavors complement one another so they have to follow a recipe each and every time they make a dish. 

So, what does it mean to be a mindful cook? Miriam-Webster defines "mindful" as "bearing (or keeping) in mind" or "inclined to be aware". So, being a mindful cook means to pay attention to what's going on in front of you. Start with your attitude. If you really don't want to cook and you're just going to bang around in the kitchen, don't bother. The meat will be tough, the veggies soggy, and the potatoes gluey and bland. Order a pizza. Seriously.

Now, if you're in the right mood to cook, be in right mood. Call it zen, call it mystical, call it weird, but be in the moment. Turn off your phone; no Instagramming, no tweeting--pay attention to what you're doing. It's okay to be alone with your thoughts. It's okay to be completely focused on how a dish smells, looks, tastes, and even how it sounds. It's more than okay, it's vital. Be observant. Take notes in a notebook. Writing things down with an actual pen on actual paper helps your brain retain that information; it reinforces neural pathways. And please don't whine to me about your ADD/ADHD. Yes, it's a legitimate condition and yes, it can make things more difficult, but there are professional cooks who have ADD/ADHD with chef Jamie Oliver perhaps the most well known. If you want to cook, you will cook. No excuses.

But before you start cooking, you need to prepare. Did you read that recipe all the way through so you know you have all the ingredients and you're familiar with all the techniques? Are your ingredients prepped? Do you have all your seasonings? Is your oven preheated and is your knife sharp? Is your head in the right place? Have you put aside those distractions and are you ready to create?

Here's my point: as in painting, photography, knitting, sewing, or woodwork, once you have learned the rules, then you can break them. Great chefs have a solid foundations in cooking techniques which allows them to to create delicious new dishes. If you don't know how to properly season and cook a chicken breast, then don't try to cook any other kind of poultry. Baffled by a beef roast? Don't even touch that venison your hunter friends gave you. Just...don't.

If you're serious about learning to be a more mindful cook, don't neglect your education. And don't you dare tell me you don't like to read. You're reading this, aren't you? The more you read and the more you watch, the more information you'll internalize and then be inspired to try. Subscribe to cooking and food magazines; Bon Appetit, Saveur, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Cooks' Illustrated. Search out cookbooks at your library, local bookstores, garage sales, and thrift stores. Watch cooking shows; there's a cooking show for everyone! If you're like me and need to know the science behind the ingredients and techniques, watch Alton Brown's "Good Eats". Don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen? Check out Rachael Ray's "30 Minute Meals" and Sandra Lee's "Semi Homemade". There's Italian cooking shows and Southern comfort food shows and grilling shows and on and on and on. A good beginner's resource is your local PBS station. Our station here in the Seattle area has a day-long cooking show every Saturday, called, "KCTS Cooks" and they hawk their cookbook, they also demonstrate many of the recipes. What's nice about KCTS is that the cooks featured on the program are local as are many of the ingredients and if you pledge to the station, you receive the cookbook in return. Many of the featured cooks are regular people, so they tend to stick to more common techniques; no sous vide or molecular gastronomy here!

One of my favorite things to do is to go to different grocery stores. Ethnic stores, definitely, but also change up the regular stores you go to. Stuck on Safeway? Try Albertson's. A die-hard fan of Fred Meyer? Take a walk through Haggen's or QFC or IGA. While the major chain stores carry the same national brands, some have better deli cases or bakeries, better stocked spice sections, or bulk food areas. My favorite bulk sausage is made at IGA, my favorite sourdough bread is baked at Haggen's, and Safeway has a nice antipasto bar. I was in Connecticut over a decade ago to be in a friend's wedding. One of my clearest memories is of the different varieties of apples and pears at her local market. I was astounded! I mean, taking the train to Manhattan was pretty awesome and visiting Ground Zero was emotional, but when I remember Connecticut, I recall the fruit. Sometimes, walking up and down unfamiliar aisles will trigger your creative juices and shake you out of your same old dinner time rut.

Is it easy to be a mindful cook? No. It's like any discipline, it takes practice and dedication to become better. And you know what? There will always be someone who is a better cook than you and you will always be a better cook than someone else. There is no ultimate pinnacle, no unbreakable record, no limit to what you can learn. Even for celebrity chefs and experienced restaurateurs, hard fought for Michelin stars are awarded one year and might disappear the next. Zagat's might tout your restaurant for a few years and then drop you for the bistro two doors down.

Look. I don't expect you to suddenly become a kitchen diva if you've never had any interest in cooking. This is simply my advice for those who have a passion to do better in the kitchen. And like advice, it's just that--advice. It's not a list of rules, it's not carved in stone, and parts of it may not even be relevant to you.  What I want you to walk away with is a better understanding of yourself as a cook.