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In a cooking rut? 'Try This.'
00:14:05
“Try This” from The Washington Post is a series of audio courses designed to jump-start the parts of life where we can all use a few pointers — with pithy, snackable solutions you can easily use. The latest course is about how to enjoy cooking more.
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- [00:01]
Constellation Announcer
At Constellation, we bring the energy powering America's growing economy every minute, every day. As the nation's largest producer of clean and reliable American made energy, Constellation is wherever you are.
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Martine Powers
Hey, it's Martine. Today is Thursday, July 4, and Happy Independence Day. I hope you're all having a very restful holiday. And on this day, some of you are probably doing a lot of cooking. Maybe you're hosting a barbecue or bringing a potluck dish to a friend's backyard. And some of you might be absolutely dreading that because cooking can feel hard and stressful. And not all of us move around the kitchen with the ease and confidence of Ina Garten. That is why I wanted to share the new season of Try this from the Washington Post. Try this is a series of audio courses designed to jumpstart different parts of your life with easy to use pointers. And this and this season is about how to change your relationship to cooking, how to actually find more enjoyment in it. It's hosted by my sparkling colleague, Christina Quinn. And trust me, you will learn so much. So today we're going to play for you the first episode of this series about identifying your kitchen personality. And after you listen, follow Try this using the link in our show notes or by searching for it wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Christina Quinn
Hey, welcome to Try this from the Washington Post. Try this is a series of audio courses to help you take on common challenges and learn something new without having to make a big time commitment. I'm Christina Quinn. I'm a journalist at the Post and I'll be learning with you. And for this in this course, we're cooking up ways to inspire you in the kitchen to get you out of a dinnertime rut or remind you that a meal doesn't have to be perfect to be worthwhile. If you're new to Try this, here's how this will work. Each Try this course has anywhere from two to five classes, or in other words, two to five episodes. In this course, we'll have four episodes that focus on how to connect the dots between who you are outside of the kitchen and how that translates to the kind of cook you are in the kitchen. And we'll explore the simple beauty in building out a recipe repertoire. Okay, class is in session. Let's try this.
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Becky Crystal
I think we've all seen enough movies and read enough books where food and cooking, it's this like transcendent experience, which it can be, but there's also just like eating to eat and cooking to cook. And that's fine.
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Christina Quinn
Recently I've been looking for ways to have a little more fun in the kitchen. And so I called on a crew of experts at the Post.
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Becky Crystal
I'm Becky Crystal. I'm the recipes editor at the food section.
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Aaron Hutcherson
My name is Aaron Hutcherson, and I'm a food writer and recipe developer. In the food section, I'm Joe Yonan.
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Joe Yonan
And I'm the food and dining editor.
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Christina Quinn
And just like a good old dinner party, I brought the crew together for a hearty conversation around the table. But instead of the table, it was a virtual recording studio. And instead of food, we had microphones. But you get the picture. And according to this crew, sometimes it's okay to accept that you aren't motivated and you can just cook to eat.
- [03:36]
Becky Crystal
If you're thinking that it should be this, you know, romanticized, wonderful process that's almost putting more pressure on yourself when there's reality to contend with. Like, your kitchen is dirty, your kid is in the other room, you got home late from work, and, you know, sometimes you do it because you have to do it and you get it done and that's it. Maybe another time you can stop and savor it more. But I think for most of us, that's not an everyday occurrence.
- [04:09]
Christina Quinn
But there are ways to make it feel less tedious and more pleasurable. And the first step in doing that requires being honest with yourself about who you are inside and outside of the kitchen. We're going to give you the tools to figure out your kitchen personality with the help of the food team at the Washington Post. And as Joe Yonen puts it, the starting point is probably not that complicated.
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Joe Yonan
The first question when you're trying to figure out what kind of cooking you like to do is what kind of food you like to eat the most.
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Christina Quinn
And that little piece of advice might seem kind of obvious, but when you use food preferences as a guiding force, it really helps cut out a lot.
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Joe Yonan
Of noise, especially food that's fairly accessible for a home cook. Right? Like, you don't want to decide that, you know, your favorite food to eat is at Noma or Minibar or a Michelin three star restaurant that has foams and centrifuges and stuff. But, you know, if there's.
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Christina Quinn
Hold on a second. Who actually says, my favorite food is foam?
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Joe Yonan
God, I hope no one. I do. I do. I do hope no one says that. But I think all of us have foods that we're drawn to more than others. You know, the kind of food that, you know, if it's any given Tuesday and somebody asked you like, what types of food do you tend to feel like eating? I think most of us have some answers for that.
- [05:29]
Christina Quinn
And Joe says once you really know what kinds of food you like to eat the most, take a close look at how those are made. That could be in a cookbook or in an online cooking blog. Maybe you can ask a relative or friend who are good cooks or even ask the chef at a restaurant. Is it okay to ask or is it a faux pas to be like, how did you make this dressing?
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Joe Yonan
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely not a faux pas. In restaurants, I mean, if they don't want to give it to you, they'll just say no, but they should be nice about it. And I think, I think most smart chefs have gotten over this idea that, that giving out their recipes somehow is going to keep people from coming to their restaurant. So now I would ask the waiter, like, say, I love this dressing. I'm curious about it. It feels like the kind of thing that I might be able to do at home. Do you know how you guys make? It can be fun.
- [06:22]
Christina Quinn
So once you establish which foods you like to eat the most and how they're made, the next step in finding your kitchen personality is to identify which of those cooking methods coincides with the way that you like to cook.
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Joe Yonan
I was thinking about this idea of the intersection between what you like to cook and what you like to eat. And if you could imagine a marriage of those things, like, I love frying, like deep frying, like frying in oil. And I also love Mexican and Tex Mex foods. So I love making tostadas, for instance. You know, you're just frying a corn tortilla, but it looks really cool. The oil is bubbling and the tortilla completely transforms, which I think satisfies the curious, geeky part of my personality.
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Christina Quinn
So this is where Joe says he finds his kitchen personality. He calls himself a tinkerer in that he likes to keep watch over his cauldron and stir in taste. Food writer Aaron Hutcherson offers another way to figure out your kitchen personality by considering how much you like to follow instructions versus riffing and experimenting with a recipe.
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Aaron Hutcherson
Another thing to think about is how well you know yourself in terms of are you actually able to follow directions and pay attention to things and how carefully you're able to do those things.
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Christina Quinn
So when it comes to cooking, if you're someone who doesn't like following a long list of instructions or making sure you're precise, then you might not want to try an overly complicated 10 step recipe that includes foam.
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Aaron Hutcherson
I think I'm pretty good at putting together like Ikea furniture, but I know some other people that it falls apart after two weeks. So I think you need to find recipes that are more or less forgiving, depending on the level of attention to detail that you're willing to put into cooking.
- [08:18]
Christina Quinn
That is, that is astute and I feel, I feel seen right now. Despite his handy Ikea skills, Aaron considers himself an experimenter who doesn't take himself too seriously in the kitchen. He likes to blind buy ingredients that he's never worked with before and see what happens, like neck bones and random veggies he finds at farmers markets. For those of you who prefer to stick to a script, stick around. We've got more after the break.
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Constellation Announcer
At Constellation, we bring the energy powering America's growing economy every minute, every day. As the nation's largest producer of clean and reliable American made energy, Constellation is Wherever you are.
- [09:17]
Washington Post Promo Announcer
Think about why you listen to podcasts. It's like having a friend who makes you think or can help you wind down right? Well, the Washington Post has a lot of people you can turn to at any hour. You can read the most important and interesting stories. We can help you cook something delicious, give you advice on a tricky friendship. Rave about a movie or book that you shouldn't miss. When you become a Washington Post subscriber, you have a companion for whatever part of your day needs it most. Get it all for just $4 every four weeks. That's for an entire year. After that, it's just $12 every four weeks. Cancel anytime. Go to washingtonpost.com subscribe. That's washingtonpost.com subscribe.
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Becky Crystal
I think anyone who knows me, including my colleagues sitting here with me, will know that I'm a rule follower. And so I think if you're that kind of person, cooking's probably gonna go great for you because especially if you are following a recipe from a vetted source, you just go step by step and follow it along.
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Christina Quinn
So maybe that's where you know you thrive in the land of precision and concrete instructions. You love following directions and the thrill of getting it right. If that's your thing, your kitchen personality might be a rule follower like Becky. Or maybe you don't like to live or cook by the rules, but you love the surge of confidence you get from feeling prepared. If that sounds like you, you may be a planner.
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Joe Yonan
I think that, you know, meal prep, especially advanced meal prep, like if you're going to try to do it for several days or, you know, prep a bunch of stuff on the weekends, and then, you know, turn those into meals during the week. I think that kitchen personality is obviously a planner. Planner McPlanerstein. Right. That's somebody who plans or that's a spreadsheet person. Right.
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Christina Quinn
Joe also says figuring out which kitchen tools and gadgets you like the most can also be telling of your kitchen personality. The instant pot, for example, is not really for him.
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Joe Yonan
I had a tough time with the instant pot at first because I'm such a tinkerer. I want to know what's going on in there, and it's like a little black box, and I'm like, hello, Hello. You know, are you softening? Are you thickening? Are you burning? What is happening? And I think if that's your personality, then that kind of cooking might take some getting used to. But if you're somebody who enjoys, like, you set it all up, you put it in, and then when it's done, it's done, then those might be the kind of things that you would find really helpful.
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Christina Quinn
Identifying your kitchen personality is important because you can bring what you like from real life into the kitchen, which is also real life. But anyway, instead of thinking of the whole darn thing as work, you might be able to reframe it as well. At least I get to spend 15 minutes ticking off some clear instructions using my latest gadget or letting my creativity fly. And then for the moments where that's just not doing it, Joe and Aaron have a couple more suggestions.
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Joe Yonan
I was a member of a cookbook club for a while, and that was super fun. So like a book club, but it's a cookbook, and the host picks the book and assigns the dishes, and it was, like, once a month, and people got exposed to books they never would have. And that helps shake you out when. When it's. You know, it's kind of not optional. You have to cook out of this book. So then you look at it a little differently.
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Christina Quinn
I love that idea, actually. And it's. It's like a potluck, but a little more organized. And, you know, it won't be kind of like a roulette of dishes.
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Joe Yonan
Right.
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Aaron Hutcherson
The other thing is inviting people over. It forces me to get off my butt and get into the kitchen. So maybe it's like you send out an invite for next week. You have no idea what you're gonna make, but you set a time and a date, and then I will figure it out and make it happen.
- [13:28]
Christina Quinn
Okay, quick recap. The moment of truth. When cooking feels like a chore, it's okay to accept that and just make something that will fill bellies, but it really helps to figure out what you like to eat the most and merge that with which part of the cooking process you enjoy. Be honest with yourself. What's your kitchen personality? Are you a planner or do lists make your eyes glaze over? Do you like to tinker versus set it and forget it? Maybe you have a short attention span and aren't the best at following recipes. If so, stick to flexible dishes. And if you can't shake yourself out of your rut, shake things up. Invite people over so you are forced to cook. Sometimes all you need is some good company and conversation to feel inspired. Okay, that's it for our first class. Up next, in our second class on how to enjoy cooking more, we're going to help you identify the handful of dishes you should make over and over again and how to take them to the next level. We'll publish new classes in this cooking course each week on Thursdays. If you're a Washington Post subscriber, though, you can access the full course right now in Apple Podcasts. To do that, connect your post subscription by looking up the Washington Post Channel in Apple Podcasts. If you're not a subscriber right now through July 10th, you can sign up for only 50 cents a week for your first year. You'll not only get early access to this course, but everything. The Washington Post offers the best in journalism games and the entire collection of recipes from our food team. You can subscribe through the link in our show notes or@washingtonpost.com subscribe again. That's washingtonpost.com subscribe all right, I'll meet you in Class 2.
- [15:23]
Constellation Announcer
At Constellation we bring the energy powering America's growing economy every minute, every day. As the nation's largest producer of clean and reliable American made energy, Constellation is wherever you are. From families to corner stores to manufacturers to the biggest data centers, we meet the nation's energy needs by generating emissions free electricity today and for our future.
- [15:53]
Washington Post Promo Announcer
Think about why you listen to podcasts. It's like having a friend who makes you think or can help you wind down right? Well, the Washington Post has a lot of people you can turn to at any hour. You can read the most important and interesting stories. We can help you cook something delicious, give you advice on a tricky friendship. Rave about a movie or book that you shouldn't miss. When you become a Washington Post subscriber, you have a companion for whatever part of your day needs it most. Get it all for just $4 every four weeks. That's for an entire year. After that, it's just $12 every 44 weeks. Cancel anytime. Go to washingtonpost.com subscribe. That's washingtonpost.com subscribe.