Let’s get back to some older themes in these blogs, from years ago.
The action of following a recipe, or improvising while being influenced, relates to our computer science idea of an algorithm, a step by step procedure which, if spelled out in enough detail (whatever that means) in a translatable language (to ones and zeros prolly), will then run on a computer or other hardware.
I wasn’t just bringing forward the original Home Economics though. We’ve all grown up seeing cooking shows, meaning a cooking class is an opportunity to learn about camera work, editing, scripting, scene design.
Schools share their best shows with a public, with raw material saved to school servers, perhaps on a temporary basis.
Given the computer science, we’re also looking at queues, workflows, parallel processing (or asynchronous as the case may be).
Finally, we’re not just learning to cook for a nuclear family necessarily. The amounts and equipment involved may be on a more institutional scale, with a cafeteria style aspect, even of short order cooking is also supported. This course is not just for grooming stay-at-home moms, as may have been once envisioned by curriculum developers in bygone years.
Once cooking has become a focus, as well as ordering and provisioning, keeping track of costs and inventory, it’s a small step to exploring cuisines. Students learn to cook across ethnic spectra, exploring fusions, synergetic combos. Cooking is not just about imitating one’s ancestors, but nor is it about forgetting what’s known to work.
My work with Food Not Bombs was influential on my thinking here. We’d have to improvise based on what the warehouses had in excess that day, mixed with staples (dry goods we almost always had on hand). Cooks from fancy restaurants might sometimes volunteer, because they liked the challenge, of making up yummy meals for larger groups, namely those who knew which city park to visit when.
Another influence: The Gathering of Western Young Friends, which was frequented by foodies who’d truck stuff in and take over the camp’s kitchen. They’d seek out camps where such arrangements could be made, to serve ourselves versus buying into some meal plan. Camp Myrtlewood allowed this.
