Comments on: What’s So Elitist About Cooking From Scratch?

By: Catherine

Catherine — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:15:05 +0000

It is just a matter of right budgeting. You can eat delicious foods even a small amount of money.

By: mumimor

mumimor — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:17:12 +0000

When I was a student, I lived in a really poor neighbourhood. Really poor. All the apartments were tiny, two room homes, without baths and with a kitchen the size of a cupboard. No central heating. A lot of the residents were single mothers, often with several children in these cold, damp dumps. The women were working long hours when they weren’t on welfare. It wasn’t even romantic for a student.
The corner store was owned by a Turkish immigrant, and he would give all these single moms credit towards the end of the month. But at some point, he decided to run a free cooking class, to teach these women how to live on a budget while using fresh and healthy products. He was seeing these families living from take-away the first ten days of each month, and then spagetti with ketchup bought on credit at his store for the rest.
His principle was that everyone needs meat, vegetables, grain and fruit. But by following the seasons, buying oil, grain and beans in bulk, and cutting down on the beef (not omitting it), every one of “his” mothers were able to stick to budget, while providing nutritious food for their kids. Yes, it was more time-consuming than take-out. But the relief of being clear of debt and being good moms was worth it for them. (And they grew into a little community, helping each other outside of class). Elitist? nah….

By: Lexica

Lexica — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:21:58 +0000

It’s odd to me to hear Bittman denounced as being fascist or some kind of One-True-Wayer. So many of his recipes fall into what I call “non-parametric cooking” (take a handful of this, a dollop of that, add as much of this other thing as you like, and cook until it’s done) — any time one of his columns like “101 easy summer meals” is published, the criticism is that there’s not enough detail in the directions!

And most of his recipes include something along these lines (copied from the recent citrus salad recipe): “I like a squeeze of lime, but lemon is also fine; a pinch of cayenne or a sprinkling of black pepper is all right but not essential.” So, either lime or lemon is fine; cayenne or black pepper or even nothing at all is fine. How is this fascist and controlling?

I suspect that part of what’s going on is defensiveness from people who do think they ought to be cooking from scratch but aren’t doing it; rather than consider what changes would be possible in their own lives to boost their scratch cooking, they instead lash out. For some people, “another option is possible” gets interpreted as “the way you are doing it is WRONG and you are a BAD PERSON”… when all that was actually said is “another option is possible”.

By: Jenny Islander

Jenny Islander — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:21:59 +0000

Reminds me of a story Carla Emory tells in her Encyclopedia of Country Living. Seems that back in the ’70s, her neighbors considered her some type of subversive because she baked her own bread . . .

I cook from scratch because we have to watch our budget and I am not going to waste money on corn syrup solids that could have been spend on actual food. And I rarely spend more than half an hour standing in the kitchen.

By: Samantha

Samantha — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:09:13 +0000

For me, the crockpot (I have three, and used to have four) has been a great way to get my pantry to work *for* me. In one of my crockbooks, the author wrote that she thinks of her crock as a little old lady who stays at home and cooks for her all day.

I think pointing out, as Shauna does, “This is what works for me” is a good way to have a conversation and not a monologue. Sounds like “experience” or “research” and not “advice” or “orders.”

By: Sally

Sally — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:40:04 +0000

I have to say that I find Bittman’s tone a little snotty, and I suspect that’s what most people are reacting to here. He strikes me as having a tendency to suggest that his way is the *only* way, and anyone not making the same choices is somehow lacking.

On the other hand, Shauna is not remotely elitist, she’s all about inclusion and figuring out what works for *you*. My guess is that someone who gets all snitty about Gluten Free Girl is really projecting their own dislike of cooking. And while I can identify with that, being a recent convert to the cook at home school of thought, I’m also a big fan of owning your your own issues and not blaming someone else for your choices. Which is what it sounds like these commenters do.