Cooking vs. baking
You know what I think is weird? I think it’s weird that many people seem to have a strict separation in their minds between cooking and baking.
My mom, for instance: she’ll pooh-pooh her cooking skills and say my dad is the cook in the family, and it’s true that my dad is a very good cook, but my mom is a baking machine. She makes the best pie crust I’ve ever had, a thousand different cookies and candies around the holidays, lots of different quickbreads and bars and other treats. Why does this not count as cooking in some people’s minds? It’s just as complex a process as any other culinary one, maybe more because of the chemistry involved. That’s another thing my mom will pooh-pooh—her science skills. She blames a mid-century Catholic school education in which the answer to every scientific question was “God did it.” It’s true that she might not have a strong foundation in the periodic table or the geologic record, but understanding what ice water does to fat in pie crust, or how baking soda and liquid interact in pumpkin bread is no mean feat.
Anyway, this is cooking. I think it’s dumb to demote it. I also think it’s dumb that pastry chefs get less glory in the culinary world than other chefs. Last night I made a fairly complex dinner by weeknight standards, but it took nowhere near the effort required for the dessert I’m planning to work on tonight.
Also, continuing yesterday’s theme, I am excited about how I got to say pooh-pooh twice in one post. I would say it’s because I spend so much time with an immature boy, but we all know it was always in there.
I have a strict separation in my mind between cooking at baking, but it’s more semantic, I guess, than anything to do with the relative “importance” of either endeavor. These two processes are at least equivalent in complexity, to my mind, and I’d MUCH rather “cook” than “bake.” Seems there’s much more room for error in cooking than in baking, which suits my meager culinary abilities.
You’re right, they shouldn’t be separated in terms of importance or talent, HOWEVER, I do say that baking almost always takes me more time and effort, so I’d rank the skill to bake above the skill to cook, as Mark said. I can easily whip out a 4-course meal, but the soufflé will have me shivering in a corner with a blankie if I’m not careful.
I agree there is a difference — but baking is harder and therefore a rarer skill. To improvise or experiment in baking, you need to know much more than you need to do the same in cooking.
I think baking is often pooh-poohed partly because people think it’s a girly thing for ladies, and most famous chefs are dudes. But baking is very exact. I find it harder to get it just right, and when I cook I can just throw things together and it comes out okay.
But the Food Network Challenges involving cake and candy sculpture are always WAY more interesting than steak grill-off blah blah. I give Bronwyn Weber as much love as the Iron Chefs.
Your mom is and has always has been amazing across the board. I’m happy to cook for her, and I appreciate and enjoy her apple pies and many other things.