Cooking "Rituals" [General]

2007 May 23
Hello again fellow food warriors (haha, that sounds cool).

I just finished up tonight's dinner (omelettes and toast), and I realized that I always, but always, listen to music while I cook. My favorite CD to listen to is Electric Light Orchestra: Strange Magic, Disc 1, because the songs are usually fast and sound really great. Anyhow, I was just wondering what you guys do when you cook, from music to singing, humming or talking with the person you love to cook with. So yeah, spill the beans!

2007 May 23
I am force-fed cheesy french pop music at work.I usually tune it out. At home I always listen to music when I cook. Usually it's whatever new cd I'm currently infatuated with.... (right now? the new Acres cd and People for Audio's "The New Ancients")

2007 May 24
My background music comes in phases and it varies. For awhile it was Ella Fitzgerald then the Surreal Gourmet cd now it's a compilation of opera arias. I am almost ready to take the opera cd out of the cd player and plan on popping in a new Disc Drive cd any day now. I may even make one of the recipes in the accompanying cookbook while the cd is playing.

2007 May 24
My background accompaniment is usually CBC 1. I also compulsively clean up spills (big or small) as I go. I only wash up in the morning. It's just too much to face after having cooked a meal.

Amy

2007 May 24
I cook in relative silence... the rhythm of chopping and the sounds of sizzling, bubbling, etc are all I need. I clean up everything as I work. I achieve cooking Nirvana when I sit down to my meal and the sink is empty, the counters are clear, and the stovetop features only vessels full of hot food.

I like to minimize the number of dishes I use (so I use cooking pots as serving dishes). And, unsurprisingly, I hate cleaning up after others' cooking.

My use of music is in conjunction with alcohol. While the food is cooking unattended or after dinner is done, I like nothing more than a nice drink and some good music. :-)

2007 May 24
Not my own cooking rituals, but regarding cooking rituals nonetheless -- Dogen's Instructions for the Tenzo: www.wwzc.org

And commentary on it by Anzan Hoshin roshi, abbot of Ottawa's White Wind Zen Centre: www.wwzc.org

I wish I could reach that level of mindfulness in the kitchen. Or outside the kitchen! But this is why tenzo is one of the more senior positions in a Zen monastery.

Related: You can see the week's menus for residents of the Zen Centre in their newsletter -- search for "yakuseki": www.wwzc.org

2007 May 25
HAHA Nice thread!!! I listen to just about anything!!But I love how you love to cook to E.L.O... We listen to mixed cd's made from old tapes from the late 80's when drinking and there are lots of 80's tunes on there and E.L.O is one of our favorites...

2007 May 25
I cook in silence... and I tend to create a mise-en-place type station when I know things are going to be time sensitive (I cook on a tight schedule a few days of the week)

If I were to choose music to cook by, it would be something like the Ramones or Iggy & The Stooges...

2007 May 25
Man, ELO is the bomb! I have all their albums on vinyl! I wake up listenting to them. "Eldorado" and "On the Third Day" are my possibly the two best almus they have. And oh yeah, "Face the Music" is sweet too :) And "Time" rocks the house also :)

2007 May 28
I feel so anti 'New Wave'. Although I lived through New Wave, and like(d) it, my fav cd is an MP3 cd with about 6 albums worth of assorted Van Morrison and Cowboy Junkies, and Mark Knoffler(solo).

2007 Jun 7
I don't get to cook very often but when I do, I like to pop in a CD that goes with my meal: Indian when cooking tikka masala or any number of curries, Asian music with stirfry or the like, Italian of course with pasta and veail dishes, etc. Puts me in the right frame of mind. Oh yes, and of course the glass of wine to lubricate the chef always works wonders.

And if following a recipe, I'm obsessive about the measurements, steps and ingredients. Can't deviate until I know it well then I can throw the recipe out the window and be creative. Probably stems from the fact that I don't cook enough so not enough practice. Oh well, I'm just as happy to pay someone else to do the cooking (and clean-up).