The Scobleizer, Tech, and Cooking from Scratch

Posted on 20 February 2008 under Convenience Foods, Food History, Food In The News, Food Philosophy, Slow Food, Software, Tech Blogs | 1 Comment

I’ve been “into” computers since late 1976, learning multiple programming languages since then and, for about the past ten years or so, meeting lots of great tech folks around the internet. I’ve previously mentioned tech blogger Robert Scoble, who’s become rather well-known among geeks and techies for various reasons. I haven’t checked Robert’s blog in about a week or so, so it was interesting this morning to find him mentioned on Slashdot (Serious Eats for techies). It seems last week Robert blogged on obselete technical (and other) skills. This blog entry of his has become so popular another individual has now created a Wiki on the subject.

If you go back to Robert’s original post you’ll see in comment 18 Karim included “cooking food from ’scratch’”. In comment 32 Wreck posted a rebuttal:

Cooking from scratch will never die. It’s actually coming back into fashion in a major way. There are more and more cooking shows as a testament to this. Only this generation eats everything out of a microwave-frendly bag. Cooking is a skill.

Commenter 50, Gerald Buckley, then argues against this:

@Wreck (#32)… actually, cooking from scratch is on the decline. A recent “Progressive Grocer” article noted 2007 was the first year better than 50% of all dining was done “out” … Cooking from scratch is on the decline in the US no matter how badly all the cooking shows want it to the contrary. It’s a great way for the consumer packaged goods manufacturers to get their products in front of you …

This is followed up by other arguments beginning at comment 57. Some excerpts:

The vast majority of the world still cooks from scratch … There is no reason families cannot enjoy cooking together and have family time at the table. The lion’s share of the planet’s people remain focused on the family and meals. Tell a Greek to nuke their food and they’ll look at you like you’re nuts. Same goes for the Chinese. Even the richest Chinese and Japanese still largely prepare steamed rice and veggies/meat/fish on a daily basis … The US has become nothing more than a shell of what it once was … Family means less and less to the average person now … Ever been to Europe, especially France, Greece, Spain, Portugal, where they spend copious amounts of time at the table talking, eating, drinking. That’s the ways it’s supposed to be

Robert gets involved shortly after this. It’s all a very interesting read. 

The question then becomes this; Who’s right?

Backing up for a second, let’s go back to Karim’s original suggestion; that “cooking food from ’scratch’” is an obsolete or dying skill.

What do we really mean by “cooking food from ’scratch’”?

Backing up even further, what is meant by “cooking”?

According to the American Heritage dictionary, the word “cook” means:
1. To prepare food for eating by applying heat.
2. To undergo application of heat especially for the purpose of later ingestion.

There are other definitions, for things such as “cooking the books” and “What’s cooking, dude?”, but those definitions certainly don’t work here.

One of the biggest issues to come about recently is the reality that television cooks and chefs don’t always cook from what some feel is ”scratch”. They see a can of mushroom soup, some tomato paste, maybe some store-bought shredded cheese, or even, God forbid, a sauce base, and these viewers instantly believe the folks they’re watching have no business cooking on television whatsoever.

Here’s my answer to those who say some television cooks and, yes, some on-screen chefs, aren’t really cooking:

“So, what wine do you use to cook with? Ummm … what? You don’t press your own grapes?? For shame!!! And what about your butter? No churn in the house, eh? And sour cream? No?? What kind of spice mill you got in there? None?? Sheesh … you’re pathetic … and you do have the mushroom farm in the basement and the milking cows tied to the back porch, right? NO?? And you call yourself a cook?? Ok, lemme ask you a simple question … do you at least make your own macaroni from scratch when the kids want mac ‘n cheese? Excuse me, didn’t catch your answer … what? Quit mumbling … I’m a son of a what?? Your mother … yeah, ok, so you can shut up about [insert TV chef/cook name here] now, can’t you … yeah, I thought so … go back and play in the corner, ya’ wannabe …”

The real problem is that some of those “cooks” are on-camera while all the prep work is done in the back kitchen by an army of sous chefs. While some are actually not only cooks but chefs as well, there can still be a massive difference between what goes on in their own kitchens vs. what they only demonstrate on television.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, our pal Jaden Hair down at Steamy Kitchen presents Asian cooking on WWSB channel 7, the local ABC affiliate in Sarasota, Florida. If you watch some of her videos there you might see various oriental-style wrappers in-use in her recipes. She didn’t make these, even though she probably could have. However, her buying these wrappers at the store and taking them to the station for use on-air does not mean Jaden’s not cooking from scratch.

How many of you, dear readers, make your own BBQ sauce every time you BBQ? Your own mustard for those great hot dogs you grill? And what about those hot dogs? Ever baked your own hot dog bun?

Didn’t think so.

Here’s another question: When you plunk down $20 - $30 or more for a high-end meal, do you really believe for a moment it’s all made from scratch?

If you respond with, “It’d better be!”, then you’re definitely not as up-to-speed as you think.

Did you ever have one of those great Creme Brulées on a cruise ship, with that extra-crunchy torched caramelizing sugar? Maybe you wanted to grab the steward and pass to the chef how cool that was? Well, sorry to tell you but you can use that same sugar at home. Oh, and grab some of that company’s Chocolate Mousse mix as well for that “We-Just-Ate-At-A-Restaurant” feeling.

There are obviously various levels of cooking from what might be called “scratch”. These are decidedly related to culture, where you live, what’s available, what local laws and regulations are, etc. I’ve lamented previously about the fact that there are 130,000 street food vendors in Calcutta, India … but I’m not allowed to cook you up a real Michigan corn dog at the Luna Pier City Wide Yard Sale without jumping through serious hoops with the Monroe County health department.

In India the street food is made from ingredients available for millenia. My corn dogs are made from Viennas in natural casings, dipped in a modified Jiffy corn muffin mix with extra milk and some ground mustard added. Meanwhile, the one year I bucked the system and sold them anyway, there were folks coming back for more who informed me mine were considerably better than those corn dogs from the food trailer by the beach, where the dipping batter was made from corn meal and other individual ingredients.

Was I wrong in how I made mine? Were mine lesser quality? No. And it wasn’t me who made that determination.

It was the customers.

It dosn’t matter if your food is made from whatever it is you consider to be “from scratch”. “From scratch” will never mean what it once did anyway, more than 100 years ago.

What matters is whether or not that food tastes good, has a nice texture, is pleasant to the eyes, mouth, nose …

Now, pardon me while I go make up a PB&J and some chips for lunch. Let’s see, I’ll need peanuts … some grapes … potatoes and a mandolin … some oil for deep frying … where’s that pressure cooker so I can make the jam … darn, I’m out of bread flour … the yeast should be in the fridge door …