Cooks Around the Globe

“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”
- Laurie Colwin

Sometimes I have the luxury of, not just eating really exceptional food, but also actually meeting with the chef, following him or her into their kitchen, and watching them actually create. The thrill in this is not so much about technique or mastery, but more about intimacy that chef (whether a home chef or restaurant chef) holds in his/her own kitchen. When I cook, I am (not always, but sometimes) aware of how I exist and move amongst the pots, utensils, and mitigated mess of my cooking creation, and that awareness sometimes works in my favor.

SAVEUR Magazine, the longstanding food glossy with a distinct international scope, has always done a hell of a job in showing food and food preparation in a way that is both alluring, as well as accessible. In the new book, The Way We Cook: Portraits from Around the World, published by SAVEUR, we get an intimate photographic look into all sorts of kitchens scattered around the globe. This day-in-the-life approach reveals everything from Sicilian mamas cooking for their family to a hilltop picnic in Greece, all of which is shot as evocatively as you would imagine. All of which shows how people around the globe gather, cook, and ultimately share the wealth of really good food.

What is your relationship to your own kitchen and cooking? Do you need to love your kitchen to create really meaningful food? If not, what is the most essential ingredient to meaningful cooking?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Magdalen B.

3:22AM PST on Jan 24, 2013

In my tiny kitchen, I'd rather cook alone than have people faffing around and getting in the way.Afterwards a washer up is very welcome.

January 24
send a green star

Robert O.

1:25PM PST on Nov 26, 2012

Very nice. Thank you Eric.

November 26
send a green star

Marie Therese H.

4:34PM PST on Nov 8, 2012

Interesting. I love to cook.

November 8
send a green star

Kirsten B.

12:59AM PST on Nov 7, 2012

Nice advert for the book - will keep an eye out for it.
I enjoy cooking in most circumstances and like trying out totally new foods. The kitchen isn't important, it is the mood and the intention which count.