We need food. You can go for somewhere around a month or so without food (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-long-can-a-person-sur), but most of us get antsy if we miss two meals in a day.
We want food. We want it to be tasty, delicious, and satisfying.
We have associations with food. Prospectively we plan celebration dinners and retrospectively we recall fond memories of childhood birthday cakes.
Food dictates feelings. A nice pint of beer or dulce de leche makes us feel better after a bad break up.
Food is a social mechanism. We use food to catch up with old friends, to test out new love interests, to facilitate business, and to lure students to research talks.
Food has cultural meaning. Each culture has ingredients, techniques, and/or tastes associated with it. Eating corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day helps a contemporary girl feel like she is celebrating and experiencing her Irish culture appropriately. Making Bulgogi for your girlfriend’s Korean parents helps show them that you appreciate their culture (and that you may want to become part of the family… wink wink).
Food is work and accomplishment. Cooking for others is how hundreds of millions of people earn their living. Friends finishing a 12lb. burrito challenge they saw on Man v. Food makes them feel accomplished (as well as gross).
Long story short food is an integral part of being human. Cooking is the hands-on manipulation of ingredients to make food. My philosophy, empower yourself with some skills to harness the power and joy of food.
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