Recently, I watched an old episode of Iron Chef America. It was an episode I saw back when I first started cooking, but with new eyes I had a completely different impression. The secret ingredient was turkey (Thanksgiving Special, of course) and the Iron Chef had prepared 5 turkey-stuffing-cranberry dishes in 5 different ways to represent America: the Northeast, Florida, Deep South, North Pacific, and Southwest. When I first viewed it, I thought it was genius. This time, I remarked at how wasteful it was that he only used turkey breast for each dish, discarding the rest of the turkey.
The thought gave me pause, as I had never before criticized a Food Network Star of such atrocities (okay, maybe a couple digs on Rachel Ray). The more I thought about it, however, the truer the words range in my ears. How wasteful. How indulgent. How negligent. Yes, it is a cooking competition, but wasn’t there something to be said for sustainability? Responsible cooking? Earth-friendly fare? Or does being a top chef mean that you can bend those rules and through caution to the wind, all for the sake of a beautiful and delicious dish?
In a completely separate event, one of my husband’s co-workers made a proclamation against “refined sugar” and how bad it was to consume, along with some baking “tips” for avoiding refined sugar. Note: Baking is a chemical process and rather precise, therefore substituting ingredients doesn’t work “just like that,” it is actually a gamble to swap out an ingredient as integral to the process as sugar.
Normally, I would just overlook it as hippy dippy nonsense, but I had recently sent my husband to his office with my freshly baked muffins. Wait. Was this a commentary on my baking? My mentality is that if you don’t like it, don’t eat it. James thought I took the comment out of context, but I was angry and insulted. How ungrateful to eat my food then complain about it!
Then I realized the events were not that dissimilar. Granted, I was commenting on a TV personality and not someone I know personally, but I digress. We all have different standards when it comes to frugality, sustainability, food waste, recycling, and social responsibility. I can’t say that my level of responsibility is any greater than the average consumer. I try to pay a fair price, avoid food waste, and produce a somewhat healthy product, but I know I could do more. Maybe I am in no position to judge the Iron Chef, just as I feel no one is in the position to judge me (lest he cook his own hippy dippy muffins).
If we are all cooking good food that people enjoy, does it matter?
