A Dying Art

The other day I was grocery shopping and noticed one doesn't need to have any knowledge of cooking to prepare a meal, any meal. Look in the freezer section or the meat department, even up and down the aisle fully prepared meals are available in just about any type of food you desire. All one needs to do is read the instructions to put a meal on the table.

While there are chefs employed by the makers of these items and we can still go to a restaurant where a chef oversees and prepares "real" food from fresh ingredients the art of "home" cooking seems to be falling by the wayside.

It seems the healthy eating advocates have invaded our way of life. So many people are reading the nutrition information on the labels and planning their meals around living longer. While this may not be a bad thing it certainly takes the fun out of eating ... at least for me.

No matter what studies may reveal and guidelines offered by so many health-conscious organizations, there is nothing that tastes as good as fried chicken and greens from the kitchen of an old black lady in the south, or spaghetti and meat balls from an old Italian lady, or tortillas hot from the iron pan lovingly done by a Mexican lady. True, I may be accused of stereotyping but I grew up in the south and also lived in places like New York City and Philadelphia. Ethnic cooking has always been a pleasure to eat. And, it was done from scratch with all fresh ingredients and it took all day to cook.

Notice I used the adjective "old" before the gender noun "lady." That is simply because the art of cooking is done best by those who have been doing it all their lives. Granted, there are still women who follow in their mother's and grandmother's footsteps but it seems they are becoming a minority.
I am forced to admit, in all fairness, today's women face a more demanding lifestyle. Most are working full time time and juggling work, children, domestic chores and many are doing it as single moms. A feat few men could handle well.

Maybe, just maybe, its time we went back to the basics. Cooking real food from fresh things. Recently, I heard a story of someone who needed to lose nearly 100 pounds and they accomplished this goal. It wasn't done by following a prescribed or popular diet but by simple common sense. They called it the 100 year diet. That is to say if the food they ate wasn't around 100 years ago they didn't eat it. Coupled with modest portions and exercise they met their goal. The idea of the 100 year diet makes sense. One hundred years ago our food wasn't loaded with all the things it contains today. If you can't pronounce it should you really be eating it?

We've all seen the signs on restaurants across the country that claim "Home Cooking." I wonder, if in 50 years that will mean something pre-packaged and zapped in a microwave