It seems to me that the terms “home cooked” and “from scratch” have both been up on a pedestal for most of my life. I don’t have a problem with that. Home cooks are some of the hardest working people in the world, and the gifts of their labor nourish the body and the soul. But it also seems to me that the meanings of “home cooked” and “from scratch” have slowly been redefined by food media to reflect what I call “the chef’s gaze”. I have a big problem with that. Home cooks are not (for the most part) chefs, and, in my opinion, holding home cooking to chefs’ standards unnecessarily intimidates and discourages would-be cooks from learning to feed themselves and their loved ones, and discovering the joy that home cooking can bring.
What if I told you I made Hoppin’ John “from scratch” for New Year’s Day? What are you assuming about my Hoppin’ John?
Did I use dried black-eyed peas, or were they canned, or frozen?
Did I use homemade chicken stock/broth, or was it canned, or was it a bouillon base?
Did I use a smoked ham hock from a locally-produced ham I served for a holiday meal, or was it a ham steak from the grocery store? Or something else?
Did I use fresh or dried herbs? Freshly chopped onions or frozen?
Did I stir in fresh greens, frozen greens, or did I serve it on top of greens braised in my homemade chicken stock?
As you read all those options, what were your reactions? Where are your biases? Did you know you have biases about certain foods?
The truth is, I have made Hoppin’ John differently each year I have made it, using different ingredient options each time I made it, and while it tasted differently (as opposed to better) each year, each version of Hoppin’ John I’ve made has been wholesome, satisfying, and delicious, judging by the way my family happily gobbles it up. The ingredients that went into the dish had no bearing on how my family valued it, they simply derived pleasure and satisfaction from eating it, as I did in preparing it for them.
The truth is, what we each would call “home cooking” depends a lot on our circumstances.
Our Resources: (time, money, tools, access to ingredients) When I moved out of my parents’ house the first time, I had no prep knives. The sharpest knife I had was a serrated steak knife I “borrowed” from them. When I moved in with my husband-to-be, we both worked, we had little time, and a tight budget, so a lot of our home cooking started with boxes, bags, and cans. The existence of food deserts is severely limiting access to certain ingredients, but home cooking is still happening in these places.
Our Location: Where we live can be a powerful indicator of what we eat. What new immigrants to the United States called home cooking in their native countries usually had to change to adapt to availability of ingredients, their economic status, and special equipment that may not have made the trip with them.
Our Cultural Influences: Before the invention of mass preservation of food, home cooking was dependent on what was available locally and seasonally, so fresh, unprocessed food was the norm. When canned and frozen foods were introduced, they became popular because they made home cooking easier and more convenient, and provided access to a new variety of ingredients. This was seen as progress. The cultural pendulum has swung back toward local, seasonal, fresh, unprocessed ingredients, but many home cooks (and potential home cooks) are being left behind by lack of access, and certain value judgements about food that have accompanied this swing.
Our Experience: I grew up with an experience of home cooking that was defined by my mother’s knowledge and experience. She had a steady repertoire of recipes that she prepared from scratch for family celebrations. But our daily meals were much simpler, especially when she started working outside our home, and meal preparation was often started by opening cans, bags, and boxes. That was home cooking to me, especially when I started being responsible for preparing meals.
Why do I think this is important enough to write about? I don’t believe any of these circumstances should define who is a home cook, or that one home cook is more virtuous than another based on these circumstances. I hope to explore these ideas further in future newsletters. Stay tuned.
What I’m Cooking/Eating:
Hoppin’ John, obviously. Here’s a link to this year’s Hoppin’ John recipe 2023.
Also, after thoroughly enjoying the holiday abundance, I am ready for some lighter, more balanced eating. Citrus fruits are in season in the United States, and I love to work them into my meals and my baking during the winter. They bring some sunshine into the kitchen.
What I’m Learning:
I’m starting to make Reels for Instagram. I am not skilled. But I’m trying. On the air fryer front, I finally got up the courage to air fry some frozen chicken strips. They were crispy and juicy, and highly motivating. ;)