Cooking and its importance to society

Fire draws us together in many ways and that is when cooking is originated from. I never knew that cooking could be such an art. After completing the first episode of Cooked a Netflix Original, I was astonished at how much food impacted me without even knowing it. The act of eating is something that we nonchalantly go through each day. Do you ever think about what your eating? What about where the process of cooking originated from? The act of cooking is based off of the basic 4 elements of life: fire, water, air, and earth. In each episode, Cooked shows us the importance of each of the basic elements and how it has impacted the way we eat and cook today.

Fire is a very powerful thing. In a way it is a sign that you are going to eat. The disappearance of fire from our lives has had a huge impact on the way we as a society view cooking as a whole. Civilization really began around the cook fire. Cooked takes us through the journey of Michael Pollan a foodie/ author, and the life of some aboriginal hunters. These hunters live in very nice villages with modern homes, but on the weekends they take a trip to their homeland to continue spreading the awareness to their younger generations about the importance of fire. Humans evolved from cooking food over fire and the aboriginal hunters would like those traditions to stand on.

There are elements of traditional ways of eating that we have lost and/or given up on. Hunting serves as a perfect example for this. Hunting is a safe haven for people in general, but especially those who have certain illnesses that a treated through medications. Some of the citizens that have to take daily medicines will go out to the country and be able to throw away that days dosage. There is something about being out in the wilderness that gives these people a sane feeling. It is a therapy for them. Hunting stays of important to these families because when one hunts their own food, their going to treat their food with more respect, than just having it served on a platter to you and not being a part of the process before consumption.

Humans are unlike any other animal in the aspect of food. We are biologically adapted to eating our food cooked. In other words, cooking is basically baked into our biology (no pun intended). Cooking relieves us from the work of chewing, and any other animal species spends about half their lifetime chewing up their food to get nutrients. We are drawn to certain foods through coevolution and we are hardwired to like specific foods such as fruits. This is because of the sweet natural flavors it gives off.

The last yet most important aspect of cooking is to cook your food after the hunting is completed. Barbecuing is the most popular way for the hunters to cook their food, and they turn it into a ritual. The definition of barbecuing is to smoke the meat over a fire for a long period of time and the flavor comes from the wood. It is thrilling to hear that three- four thousand new compounds are created when you cook meat over a fire. The pleasure around food is something to live for, and how one can make beautiful meals from one simple thing being fire is astonishing.