@kaleokahu and I were discussing this on another thread, and he suggested it might merit a thread of its own. I doubt this is an issue for members of HO, but it certainly seems to pervade American kitchens. Some examples might be using a crockpot or IP to make so many things by putting in the ingredients and pressing a button. The old way of course, probably involved layering flavors, checking textures and seasonings, and adjusting temperatures on the stovetop and in the oven. Both ways can yield tasty results, but using the old ways it seems you are more in touch with your food. Do you actually touch your food, or do you default to tongs and the like? Do you monitor proteins with an instant read thermometer, check by poking and feeling the texture, or both? If you decide to bake something, do you reach for the convenience of nonstick or do you lovingly slather a bit of butter around an old, blackened steel pan, taking pride in how nonstick it is and what a gorgeous crust it will yield? If you are making a pan sauce do you use nonstick, missing the messy glory that is loads of fond to deglaze or just let the crust build and then scrape like crazy as you add the liquid? When you need to whip something, do you grab an IB, a wire whisk, or a fork? When you add ingredients are they carefully measured, or do you just add some, stir it in, and taste it before moving on to the next ingredient? Is your mise tiny bowls of measured salt, or do you just pinch salt from the salt big or pour it into your palm (approximates a tbsp.)? If you need to slice a lot of something, what is your weapon of choice? Is it the slicing disc in the FP, or is it that beloved chef knife? Do you chop your washed lettuce or tear it by hand? There are so many ways that I think technology has made things quicker, easier, and neater, but is it as rewarding? Is it as much fun? Remember, you probably are not a line cook, racing to knock out as many identical renderings of a dish as you can and you are always moving at breakneck speed. Making dinner at home should, to me, be a relaxing and sensual experience. Ok, gotta go clean and slice mushrooms.
Along these lines, would Onions always choose an electric grinder over a mortar and pestle?
Would you pull pork or shred chicken by hand, or would you resort to meat claws?"
Would you roll out your laminated croissant dough or use a sheeter?
Do you actually rub your barbecue cuts?
I think youâve got a lot of (good) topics conflated with each other here.
Old vs new â tools and techniques, different aspects.
Touching.
Layering flavors.
Tools that enhance / expedite / simplify / energy-save (electricity, human energy).
For example, you used the IP as an illustration. A pressure cooker has been in use in my family from my grandmotherâs time â so does that count as old or new?
It was â and still is â used to save energy by cooking multiple things together, and time by speeding up meal preparation. It does not dilute flavors, because the flavoring is done separately (for example, lentils, rice, meat, veg may be layered into a single PC in different separators to cook them, but the seasoning and finishing is done separately for each item).
One of the key factors that often gets ignored in these kinds of questions is whose labor is being saved â across the world, it is predominantly womenâs labor, and when that can be conserved or redeployed, it is always worth it.
Romanticizing the âold waysâ is not often something that you will encounter by the lay folks whose lives are significantly improved by unromantic, mundane tasks being made more efficient.
This is not the case for most âregularâ people â most folks I know are trying to get a sort-of nutritious / healthful and hopefully home-cooked dinner on the table most nights, whether for their family or just themselves.
So, the premise is from a bias / privilege of meal preparation being a certain way that it really isnât for most.
Interesting question. I try to keep my kitchen and storage as uncluttered as possible, which means I donât have an IP or SV, although I do have and use a rice cooker, crock pot, and KA stand mixer from time to time. Part of what makes cooking satisfying for me is to get really engaged in it, rolling up my sleeves (sometimes figuratively, other times quite literally) and digging in. I like the feel of smooshing things between my fingers mixing sausage or making tsukemono, for instance. I poke meat to test doneness. I use my nose to let me know when breads are done (which let me down recently with the pan de cristal!). I like to think of my knives as extensions of my hands, and use them as much as possible - I have never used the slicing disc in the food processor, for instance. I will resort to what I think is one of the tackiest tools ever made, though - the slap chopper - to mince a lot of ginger when I need a lot of ginger minced. Itâs actually kind of fun and cathartic to slap away at it, turning a hunk of ginger into a mound of ginger bits.
Now that Iâve been retired for a few years, I realize that a lot of kitchen gadgetry is designed and intended to be labor savers. I like doing the labor in the kitchen, so they arenât terribly attractive to me. A few years ago, a cousin-in-law kept trying to convince me that I simply HAD to get an Instant Pot. I bobbed and weaved, but she was so freakinâ persistent that I finally had had it. When she asked me why I wouldnât want an IP, I practically yelled at her, âBecause I like TO COOK!â
Iâm definitely a âfood toucherâ haha. I like chopping, mixing, poking, smelling, tasting, etc almost everything I cook.
That said, I do have many modern conveniences that I typically use when Iâm cooking for a large group or under time pressures. Iâm looking at you Thanksgiving, which just passed by. In those times Iâm okay using the Cuisinart to chop large amounts of onions, carrots, and celery - or I will use the sous vide to get 12 pork chops all done perfectly and at the same time. Or when making a few lasagna (lasagni ?) I will use the Cuisinart to make the pasta dough, but then roll it out by hand (with a rolling pin).
But my day to day life, Iâm a food toucher.
One of my favorite food toucher tricks is using a wooden spoon to tell when the oil is ready to fry. When put into hot oil, the wooden spoon (or the back end of the handle, either way) will start to bubble.
If you havenât learned to cook without the âgadgetsâ - then what do you do when you donât have the gadgets on hand? Starve?
All quite true. I was not really making a distinction between old and new so much as the continuum between using hands or very simple tools and using things that are, usually, electronic and button operated. Even if you are just throwing together a quick and nutritious meal, I hope there is a bit of fun in the cooking. Most of my meals are made in fifteen minutes or less, but they do take some attention, just not enough to preclude a drink and a nibble. Yes, conflation is inevitable. No matter how you cook it is all leading to a single set of sensations hitting your palate.
The point regarding whose time is being saved is very real, especially in households that have antiquated (and stupid IMO) views as to who was supposed to cook. I was very fortunate to have grown up in a home where we all cooked) and cleaned (everything, not just dishes).
It sounds as if we have a similar approach to cooking. It isnât just the tools, either. I could get passata for tomato sauces, but itâs more fun to squish peeled tomatoes in the palm of my hand.
As you recognize in your OP, we are a rather privileged subset of the general population, with many of us enjoying the luxury / time / financial means to carefully source ingredients, compare recipes, and leisurely prepare meals at our own, enjoyable pace.
The majority of folks, however â some of whom work 2-3 jobs & need to get food on the table to feed their fam/kids etc. will likely prefer & choose whatever gadget or shortcut that makes meal prep easiest & most efficient.
Itâs certainly nice to have the choice, but letâs remember that not everyone does.
IP and slow cookers save people a lot of time and get good, if not gourmet results. That has to be good. Yes some of the new technologies are less hands onâŚbut isnât that the point? Less work but healthier than fast, industrial and ultraprocessed foods.
I donât have an IP or slow cooker but do have a SV and use it a lot. It does cut down on mess and had many good usesâŚbut itâs not perfect thatâs for sure. Have to sear most protein and not everything works with itâŚbut then you get into the work around or adjustments, like pre-searing and searing afterwards.
Not all of us, or many, can be Alice Waters and forgo a microwave oven, or have a wood burning oven in the house to cook an egg.
Technology can be good and helpful. But knowing the old methods gives a better understanding of a dish. I think the challenge is to take the old and merge with new tech.
Time savings aside, do you think that you can have as much closeness with your food (and any enhanced appreciation that flows from it) if you press a button as you would manually preparing it? Does a food processor put a distance that might be closer with a knife?
At some level and to some degree, isnât it a bit of the âLive to Eatâ versus âEat to Liveâ question?
As I mentioned, merge new tech with old methods. Iâm not into old school methods for the sake of being old school and close to my foodâŚ.because I use a guiding principle: respect the food whatever it is and appreciate that youâre going to eat. I think respecting the food, the source and that youâre eating is more important.
When I say respect, I mean donât waste it, be careful, appreciate it, maybe know where itâs from and what itâs aboutâŚtry to buy food processed with a similar philosophy. At the least know how it was processed, industrial, artisan, etc. Canât always afford the best or artisanâŚbut you can know where itâs from and a little bit about it.
Respect can also mean how to prepare itâŚbut itâs sort of the exception to me, like a very nice piece of fresh fish. Easy to screw up fresh fish, so thereâs only so many ways to prepare without destroying the good qualities. The technology used to cook the food might differ but the process of preparing with respect supersedes the method, IMO. That said, âbeing close to the foodâ can be a form of respectâŚ.but thatâs personal, or perhaps semantics.
I donât own an IP, but own a 40 y.o. pressure cooker. I do own a small food processor but rarely use itâŚ.but there are times it helps, even with old school stuff. One example of technology being useful to me is immersion blender made Hollandaise sauce. Instead of 20 mins stirring on a stove, itâs 2 minutes with melted butter, egg and the blender. You know, i didnât spend 2 years as the saucierâs apprentice learning how to make itâŚ.so new tech method works for me. I think I make it like once eery 3-4 years. That said, I do own a saucier pan but not for Hollandaise sauce.
BTW, I changed from live to eat, to eat to live for health reasons. I think moderation is the key for me but it took age, wisdom and balancing health concerns to figure it out. In fact, I am a recovering glutton. But I do believe you can have your cake and eat itâŚin moderation and with in reason. YMMV.
Oh, I think I disagree. We are now very near to having Jetsonian Food Replicators. One might stock the ingredient bins with the utmost respect, but when it prints trout almondine, is the eater as close to the molecularly identical dish prepared by hand? Or better yet, caught by hook?
Iâm lucky enough to have butchered my own cattle for beef and pressed wines for my cellar. I submit thereâs nothing quite like stained hands (by blood or must) for being involved in oneâs food. Not everyone can do this, of course, but I think food intimacy is on the wane. Some people get it by taking the time to source ingredients, or cooking traditionally, or presenting foods in certain ways. Even to preserve it. My opinion is the closer we get to delivery services and pushbutton preparation, some of the respect we should have is lost.
If you think about it, the art of plating is mostly aimed at involving (albeit from afar) the eater in the idea that someone took the time and made the effort (respect) to be closer to the food. And hence the diner feels closer. IMO, thatâs a very big reason people spend at haute restaurants. Without that plating, it would be a different world.
The only thing (at least for us) which determines the âfunâ is in the end an enjoyable meal made by us. It doesnât really matter if we used ânewâ vs âoldâ technology (and I sense a ânewer is too far away from ârealâ cookingâ mindset in your post which I couldnât disagree more) or our hands vs tongs etc. A good meal can be made be made with any technique or technology and none automatically produces a superior result
Many people who would like to do more by hand (no food processor or spice grinder) canât because of physical limitations. I had my first knee replacement at age 43, followed by two hip placements and I have bad arthritis in my hands, elbows, shoulders, etc. Canât pound spices by hand, etc.
I have time at home to cook dried beans in a bean pot, donât have a pressure cooker or insta pot, do as much cooking the âlong wayâ as possible, purchase the least processed foods, etc.
I donât have a choice to do more.
I agree. Sometimes I grab a bit of food or a knife because it is expedient. Did the fact I could have done the first with a knife or the second with an FP make a big difference? Likely not, but I still enjoyed the brief hands on experience. Nothing more complicated than that.
Using convenience things like an IP, a pressure cooker, or an FP really make a culinary difference? Not to a harried parent! But when I take into account the set-up time and the cleanup time, maybe something more simple might (not would) have been as quick and a bit more enjoyable. You need to learn and engrain those trade offs. I can whip an egg with a balloon whisk, but it is a bit faster to use an IB and almost as controllable. Making mayonnaise with an IB is so fast that it is less controllable. For the life of me, I cannot control an FP mincing onions. If it becomes a trade off between quick mush versus another minute or two for a brunoise, whereâs my knife?
Sorry for your constraints, but glad you have found a good way.
It is not really convenience but pressure cooker or sous-vide etc give you different end products which you canât easily replicate with other methods. These results are not better or worth, they are just different and it only depends what dish you ultimately envisioned to pick the ârightâ tool/technology
Thereâs a saying, âthe right tool for jobâ. Sometimes the right tool is what you have, meaning you make do even if not perfectâŚ.like camping. Sometimes the right tool for the job is the one that will saves you time or moneyâŚor both and can be a big win-win. Sometimes that means new tech some times it means ancient tech. Hereâs what google AI spitted out below. I tend to agree with it. I did trade work in collegeâŚ.and while sledge hammers will take out concreteâŚ.more than an inch of unreinforced concrete means a jack hammer. 5 inches of reinforced concrete with sledge hammers would take 3-5 people and some hard laborâŚmore than a day. Sometimes itâs personal preference but sometimes it regular time and hard labor.
Regarding food, knowing the old way and what new tech does is helpful and sometimes necessary. Example: onions in a FP can get slimy or more moisture compared to hand chopped. For something no big deal. For others (like salsa) big deal.
âThe right tool for the jobâ means using the most appropriate tool for a specific task, ensuring efficiency, safety, and quality results, rather than trying to use a single tool for everything, which can lead to frustration and potential problems; essentially, choosing the tool designed for the job at hand. New tech can be great but not always a replacement. But sometimes the replacement save so much time, forget the old tech.
Key points about using the right tool for the job:
- Safety: Using the correct tool reduces the risk of accidents and injuries.
- Efficiency: The right tool will help you complete the task faster and with less effort.
- Quality: Choosing the proper tool allows for a better quality outcome.
Example: A hammer is the âright tool for the jobâ when driving nails, while a screwdriver is better suited for screws.
It sounds like you do plenty!
I think youâre being far, far too optimistic in your technological predictions.
Even given the advances in lab grown or plant based meat, the idea that you can somehow load up some device with âraw materialsâ that will âconstructâ any sort of food more complex than a homogenous strip of protein is strictly the stuff science fiction.
Is a steak any less delicious if itâs been reverse seared vs seared and finished in the oven in the âtraditionalâ way? Am I âcheatingâ and somehow less of a cook because I like to use a probe thermometer rather than instinctually know how rare vs medium rare feels?
Any âtraditionalâ method was once a new fangled âtrickâ that some clever cook came up with. A metal waffle iron was a technological leap from flat hot stones. A gas grill is a significant upgrade from charcoal. Charcoal is an upgrade from a campfire. At what point along this line did we âlose touchâ?
If anything, new tech means folks can eat healthier, less processed ingredients and still get good tasting, well cooked variety in their diet. Certainly, having homemade stew from an instapot has to be better than microwaving a precooked, preprocessed TV dinner loaded up with salt/fat/sugar endemic in industrially prepared foods.
If we actually cared about people having time and ability to make homemade meals like âback in the good old daysâ, (which were never really thatgood), weâd be a lot more serious about changes that would allow, say, a family to survive and thrive on a single income, leaving a parent home full time to shop and prepare food. Weâd invest in universal healthcare and robust anti-poverty programs.
I think we know how the US, as a nation, currently feels
about such things.
So maybe we should just let people use their instapots and sous vides and non-stick cookware and applaud anyone who isnât resorting entirely to boxed mac n cheese and jarred pasta sauce for 90% of their diet.