Do we Have Poor Cooking Skills Compared to the Previous Generation?

Some say that cooking becomes deskilled and devalued because of the pre-prepared foods such as premix pancakes and pre-cooked meats while others suggests that there is an ongoing revisions of cooking practices and skills. Cooking has become a recreational pastime and not just a necessary daily task. This pastime is clearly seen on social media sites such as Instagram and Pinterest wherein people enjoys sharing luscious meals and their newfound recipes.

Having readily available pre-prepared foods may have negative impacts to cooking practices as it encourages to remove the choice of cooking from scratch or using raw ingredients. However, it also brings positive impacts as it allows us to save time on food preparation and develop new recipes. For instance, cooking pasta using readily made bottled sauce from the supermarket or making a pizza with Hungarian sausages instead of using raw meat.

Cooking skills is a set of practical techniques used in cooking. Using pre-mixed or pre-prepared food such as bottled sauces, hot dogs, sausages, and corned beefs does not necessarily removed the techniques required for cooking. Making pasta with readily made sauce for instance, still requires a set of skills such as knowing the perfect tenderness of pasta when cooked, estimating the quantity of each ingredients, and knowing when to add certain ingredients to ensure that all will be cooked at the same time. Even a simple fried chicken with pre-mixed breading requires skills for it to be well cooked and delicious, or at least edible. It is important to estimate the amount of oil to put in a pan, when to add the chicken, and what level of heat to use to ensure that it will be well cooked inside but crispy and not burned outside.

Cooking skills are developed through experiences. Using raw and pre-prepared food both requires cooking skills as well as using traditional kitchen techniques and modern appliances, you have to know how to use them. Comparing today’s generation to the previous generations’ cooking skills is just like comparing professional chefs and domestic cooks. They may have different practices and resources but we can’t deny that both have cooking skills. One might have skills that the other doesn’t possess. Professional cooks may be well organized, cooked quickly, and prepare food to consistent standard. On the other hand, domestic cooks are most likely to fit cooking in around other tasks such as taking care of kids or folding clothes, use leftover foods and turn them into a new dish, and prepare food that suits a range of tastes and dietary requirement of the family.

It is unfair to expect the new generation to cook using the same methods and techniques of their grandparents when we have new resources and technologies we can take advantage of to become more creative and innovative. In fact, modernization may give rise to a better diet for us all.