Having no interest in cooking and baking

[Brian63]

Anyone else here not give a shit about cooking and baking and foods? Utterly and entirely uninterested in the topic? Maybe you will never see this thread since it is in the subforum for people who do enjoy the topic.

I eat when I feel hungry, and eat what tastes good to me, but do not enjoy cooking or baking at all. Putting frozen foods in the microwave and making sandwiches and having snacks is a-ok. It is a terrible diet, yes, but I find the entire practice of making food to be entirely uninteresting.

It is really bad when at social and family gatherings, so much of the discussion centers around people talking about their favorite foods, recipes, flavors, restaurants, chefs, cooking shows, etc. Ugggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhh. Just pick any hobby or interest that other people might have which you would find completely uninteresting---say professional race-car driving---and then imagine every social interaction you are in routinely consisting of others around you mostly talking about their favorite cars and drivers. It would become frustrating pretty quickly to have to keep listening about it.

I have heard other people say how they are somewhat apathetic and do not really care about cooking---it neither interests or disinterests them much. They just do it because they have to. Nobody else though seems to go to the same degree as me in finding the subject entirely distasteful (pun intended).

 

[WAB]

I'm in your camp, Brian.

I will basically eat anything available, and nothing disturbs my palate, unless it's literally rotten or tainted. I can survive on cheese doodles. I can eat Chef Boyardee out of the can. I eat only when I'm hungry, and never do breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

This isn't to say I can't appreciate good food. I recently had a rib-eye steak that was to die for. I like to eat at restaurants, but I have never sent anything back, and probably never would, since you're begging for some spittle in your food.

I've been watching Chef Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. It occurred to me that he's sort of like Mozart. He has a very refined palate and is literally offended by food that is sub-par, in the same way Mozart was offended by music being played badly, or just bad music. The average person could scarf down food that Ramsay would spit out, because their palates are not very discriminating; they might even find it delicious. Just as the average person could easily enjoy a piece of music that would make Mozart retch.

It isn't that I like Ramsay. I would never want to be around him, and I hold in suspicion anyone who apparently enjoys shaming people. And he's lousy at taking what he dishes out. He can't handle criticism. There was one woman who refused to taste something he cooked, and he reacted like a spoiled toddler.

 

[Wiploc]

Anyone else here not give a shit about cooking and baking and foods? Utterly and entirely uninterested in the topic? Maybe you will never see this thread since it is in the subforum for people who do enjoy the topic.

I eat when I feel hungry, and eat what tastes good to me, but do not enjoy cooking or baking at all. Putting frozen foods in the microwave and making sandwiches and having snacks is a-ok. It is a terrible diet, yes, but I find the entire practice of making food to be entirely uninteresting.

It is really bad when at social and family gatherings, so much of the discussion centers around people talking about their favorite foods, recipes, flavors, restaurants, chefs, cooking shows, etc. Ugggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhh.

That's how I feel about football.

 

[bigfield]

I consider cooking a chore, but I took the time to get good at it so I had access to a better variety of meals.

I think some people would cook for fun even if they had access to a Star Trek replicator.

 

[rousseau]

I enjoy cooking, but only as far as it provides me with meals that I want to eat, with the minimum possible effort. So I don't mind cooking, but I draw the line when the effort exceeds the payback. So overly fancy foods are out.

 

[Ford]

It isn't that I like Ramsay. I would never want to be around him, and I hold in suspicion anyone who apparently enjoys shaming people. And he's lousy at taking what he dishes out. He can't handle criticism. There was one woman who refused to taste something he cooked, and he reacted like a spoiled toddler.

I spent some years as a line cook in a few restaurants a long time ago. Whenever someone expresses their dream of opening up their own place because they think it would be "fun," I ask them if they've ever watched Ramsay. They say yes, and I explain "he's not being mean...that's just how cooks communicate with each other." Being a good home cook and doing it professionally are two very different things.

I do enjoy making elaborate recipes and having them turn out, but for me it's more about the outcome and the reaction rather than the process. Serving up a great meal and watching people genuinely enjoy it is a reward in itself. When I'm cooking for myself I keep it simple, but when I'm cooking for others I like to dust off my old skills and make something really good.

 

[rousseau]

It isn't that I like Ramsay. I would never want to be around him, and I hold in suspicion anyone who apparently enjoys shaming people. And he's lousy at taking what he dishes out. He can't handle criticism. There was one woman who refused to taste something he cooked, and he reacted like a spoiled toddler.

I spent some years as a line cook in a few restaurants a long time ago. Whenever someone expresses their dream of opening up their own place because they think it would be "fun," I ask them if they've ever watched Ramsay. They say yes, and I explain "he's not being mean...that's just how cooks communicate with each other." Being a good home cook and doing it professionally are two very different things.

I do enjoy making elaborate recipes and having them turn out, but for me it's more about the outcome and the reaction rather than the process. Serving up a great meal and watching people genuinely enjoy it is a reward in itself. When I'm cooking for myself I keep it simple, but when I'm cooking for others I like to dust off my old skills and make something really good.

I'm also more likely to go the full mile if I'm cooking for others. If it's just me I'll happily eat plain chicken-breast, and raw, chopped vegetables.

 

[steve_bank]

Cooking for yourself and with/for others is a life affirming act.

Sharing food is a primal human experience. It is an exchange of of mutual acceptance.

Cooking something even simple, sitting down in your own environment, and eating with some fresh coffee is one of the most pleasurable experiences there is. You don't have to be rich.

I can ember weekend meals when I was a kid. The smell of ham cooking, or meatballs simmering in sauce. When I lived with an aunt and uncle for a while with my sisters there would be 3 or 4 adults and 8 kids at the table. An event.

Over the years with people I called friends a dinner was an event. Talking face to face instead of watching TV.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Burger King. Pizza Hut. Kentucky Fried Chicken.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Burger King. Pizza Hut. Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I was wondering if these were Yum! Brands. Took a Wrong Turn and ended up here: