Cooking With a Purpose

With the holidays soon approaching, food has been on my mind a lot more than usual.  It got me thinking of the importance of cooking and what cooking means to different people.  

Cooking is more than just the end product and feasting on delicious foods, the process itself is just as important.  To  South Carolinian, Olivia Bolt, Cooking relies heavily on keeping tradition and relationships alive and contributing to a sense of community. “As soon as I hear cooking I think about family.”  Olivia says that every time they cook, it’s a family occasion, for big holidays especially.

“I don’t make anything that’s not associated with my family”

Olivia’s Grandmother’s recipe for coconut pie

She also said that they don’t cut any corners or use anything from a box, everything is homemade, which makes the process more of a family ordeal with needing more people to help out in the kitchen.  “We do everything by the book, all of our recipe cards are in my grandmother’s handwriting, everything is passed down,” the level of authenticity that goes into cooking makes the meal that much more special and delicious when they get to sit down and eat it.  “I don’t make anything that’s not associated with my family…We follow the same recipe every time, that’s how my great great grandmother made it so that’s how I make it. Every food I know how to make has been taught to me by my mom’s mom.”

For Olivia and her family, cooking is tradition, the recipes for the meals they make are something to be shared with each other, and to be passed down.

Left to right, Olivia’s Grandmother with her Mother at a family holiday dinner. Picture courtesy of Bolt’s family album

A meal Olivia & I made together

To Claryssa, a graduate student on exchange from her home school in Brazil, cooking is a part of everyday living.  The Brazilian culture is way less reliant on snacking and fast food, unlike the American culture.  If they are having a meal, they are cooking it, and eating it with the extended family.

Calories making lunch at home

This goes for every meal, not just dinner.  “We don’t have snacks, like fast food is not traditional in Brazil, we cook more at home.” Claryssa also said that the Brazilian family is typically more traditional than the American family and that it’s usually only the women that play a part in the meal prep.

For Sodexo worker and Safeway chef, Joshua Curtis, Cooking is a way of life.  It’s how he sustains himself while also feeding others.  It’s a hobby, an escape, a strength, a passion, and an occupation.  He uses it to connect and communicate with American students, as well as foreign students and feels strongly  that cooking is a language that we can all understand.  “Cooking is a way for me to interact with other cultures and is a way for me to express all the different cultures within me.”  To Joshua, cooking is a way to bring joy to people’s lives and show his creativity with different ingredients.

Sodexo’s Front Porch Cafe, where Joshua spends some of his time preparing meals for students on the DU campus