Angela L. Das

It’s funny to me how many people I meet still have a fear of the kitchen. My toddler nephew loves to cook. He’s only three, but it’s never too early to start getting involved in an integral part of family life and his future wellbeing.

I can comfortably credit a lot of stuff I’ve learned outside my field to movies, and cooking is no exception. Food and cooking is an integral part of storytelling. When I recently watched the Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille, I was struck by how wonderfully instructional it is. In the story, Colette is a chef at Gousteau’s, a famous Parisian restaurant, and is showing Linguini, the new guy, the ropes around the kitchen. The late Chef Gousteau had published a book titled ‘Anyone Can Cook’ that inspires the main character of the movie (a charming rat named Remy) to be a cook, too. The movie is inspirational and I challange anyone to watch it and not head straight for their kitchen afterwards. But as with anything else you watch, the instructions she gives should be taken with a grain of salt.

Colette’s “Rules”

1. Energy and Time

A good chef knows how to time her (or his!) cooking. She should map out the road to dinnertime carefully to maximize efficiency, minimize disaster and still have enough verve to clean up and look good sitting down to enjoy it. Before I start sounding like a 1950’s Home Economics textbook, it is a talent you have anyway. Everyone makes lists, and for someone particularly concerned with timing, all it takes is reading the recipes an thinking: “If this take X minutes to bake, what am I doing while the oven’s on?”. You honestly don’t need a sous-chef and a plongeur to make an edible, homecooked three-course meal, just good organization. (more…)