Freezing cold weather and pouring rain really influenced the need of a warm hearty home cooked meal, so what better to cook than a casserole. I thought a phone call to mum for some basic instructions would make the first attempt not so risky, even though I end up adapting it anyway. Low and slow were the instructions my mother told me so at 2:30 I started preparing the meat. This is where I have showed the most improvement; a year ago I wouldn’t go near raw chicken or blood oozing red meat now I just bite the bullet. Once the meat was in small chunks I started chopping the onions which was quite dangerous considering I could hardly see through my tears. I took a flighty approach to making the gravy by shoving anything and everything that we had in our fridge and pantry in with the meat and onions. 150 degrees calculus and 3 hours later the room truly smelt like home and my casserole was being severed with mashed spuds and veggies to all my flatmates.
Ambiance – The essence of cooking
Consumption is the essence of cooking, we cook to eat and we eat to survive therefore it is very much a necessity for humanity. Cooking is considered to be a laborious chore, in the words of T. F Green (1968) labour “seeks not to add to life, but merely to sustain it.” Cooking may not be seeking to add to life but the never ending task does add to the life of the cooker even if it is unintentional. In the movie Julie and Julia (2009), cooking acts as an escape from the real world she explains “it is a way to get away from what I do all day” instead of viewing it as a must do, it is meaningful perhaps even therapeutic. Cooking and sharing food can help build an atmosphere, welcoming, sharing, talkative or even silence. This week my cooking lead to a homely feel in our home away from home (the flat), and a warming inside and out from sharing my first ever casserole. The room is always full of noise but the atmosphere can change into a comfortable silence when everyone is tucking into their meal. The essence is first and foremost an act of labour for consumption; however this is not the way cooking is viewed by all, sure it sustains life but it also it creates atmosphere, memories and provides people with so much more than just food.
References
Green, T. (1968). Work, Leisure, and the American Schools. New York:, Random House.
Ephron, N. (Producer/Director). (2009). Julie and Julia [Motion picture]. America: Columbia Pictures.
Yum Georgina that sounds delicious! Good for you for being able to cook up such a feast! You have really captured the whole cooking experience, I felt like I was in the kitchen with you. I would have loved for you to write a bit more, like how your flatmates felt about your homely cooked meal.
ReplyDeleteYour description on ambience was also well do. Great use of references!
Keep it up girl!