Category:
Introduction

On Cookery

It might seem, dear reader, upon early reading, that this folio hasn't been prepared with the novice chef in mind. This will be, perhaps, especially apparent to them as have become used to great specificity in recipes. Well, food just isn't like that. The relative ages of dried beans are as important as the relative age of a carrot. The same plant, in different life phases, can exhibit large variance in density, flavour, and texture. Even the relative humidity of the atmosphere or the ambient temperature of the kitchen itself can affect many processes.

Not to mention the mood of the cook.

Competence in the kitchen can owe a great deal to experience, and there really is only one way to get it; by cookery. Once you've used any ingredient or method a few times, you'll be winging it.

Protean Form
A form of chaoticism may be practiced in the kitchen. The cook must be responsive to strange attractors, yet maintain a firm lattice of ontological resolve. Mapping the paths taken by the operator among the stations of the kitchen would likely form figures familiar to fractalists.*

Keep Your Cool
The chef has means at her fingertips to crush, slice, sear, scald, or even amputate those self-same digits. Take care in the kitchen, with an eye towards prevention. Sharp knives should not be in the sink, saucepan handles shouldn’t extend past the edges of the range/cooker; that sort of thing. These are only instances, really a form of supra-consciousness must be practiced in the kitchen. Aware yet relaxed, the cook must know what's going on.

Notes:

*Actually, many studies have been undertaken to determine the ergonomics optimal to the home and commercial kitchen. They would track the chef from one 'station' to another, creating elaborate path projections and statistical indices of steps taken. Unfortunately most of these studies boil down to the observation that each cook should have their perfect facility constructed for them. So adopt an adaptable mien, and take advantage of what's available. Hunger is a powerful goad.

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Intro:

On Frugality | On Pizza  | On the Board | Batterie de Cuisine | Keeping it Fresh | Keeping it Dried | On Nightshades | On Water | On Sourdough | Arthritis in the Kitchen |