Wash your hands, throw some flour on the counter, grab some dough and start rolling, twisting, patting, pinching. Mix that sauce, saute those veggies. Roll your sleeves up and open that wood fuel grill that smells like the American dream. Twirl that red wine while inhaling the smell of old age, pop open a can of soda. Welcome back guys, my name is TheArtSamurai and I'll be your server tonight. Tonight we do have a special going on and that's a brand new episode of Love Death and…
Cooking!
*Oven beeps. Opens* Oh shit that's fucking hot what the fu- Today is a fantastic day to cook! Open the pantry, fridge, cabinets, see what you have and what you don’t. Look at your stomach, ask it what it wants. It responds in a whisper “Tacos….”. You make a list to fit the recipe, and boom you're off on the adventure of cooking tonight's dinner! Something I never knew before I moved out of my parent's house, spoilers to why I've been absent, is that my parents are actually great cooks and didn't teach me shit cause I have no clue what I'm doing most of the time, and if I do it's because i just watched a video on how to do whatever it is. But! That brings me to the moral of this episode! Everyone can cook, so give your best, try and if you succeed, great! Enjoy your amazing meal! If not then you learned and will do better next time because we never lose, we learn.
Cooking is such a universal language, for every person eats, which means every day billions of people are cooking! Whether it's for the people they love, for prisoners, school kids or for guests in their restaurant, cooking is a part of everyone's life. Everyone has quirks, habits, little things they do while, before or and after they cook that makes them all unique and different. After cooking though is another thing that brings us all together…
Something most don't really think about is family habits at dinner. Does your family congregate at the dinner table eventually and then everyone waits for everyone to settle down and get food in front of them to eat, maybe saying a blessing of some sort and then eventually people will just coast off one by one, usually leaving the parents last to clean up and do the dishes and such. Or does your family all grab a plate one by one from the kitchen to move into the living room with the family's series on, you all have your selected spots to eat, or is it more your mom comes home with food, brings it to you in your room, then asks how your day was, leaves and that's the most you'll see them usually for the rest of the night. Each and every one of these create different habits at the table, social gatherings and even some things in relationships for the rest of your life.
One example from my life experiences is the discipline of not having a constant tether to your phone. Many people my age can’t not be perpetually entertained by something or someone. If no one is talking to you, you pull out your phone and start scrolling. No-one's talking at the dinner table? Pick up your phone and start scrolling. Got to class early? Phone. In the car? Phone. Driving! Phone! Walking! Phone! Kids are at a restaurant? Phone! Awkward first date! Phone! Funeral! Phone! Distract yourself from the reality that you have a serious problem with social anxiety! Phone! Fuck you watch! What do you want!
Dinner is a communal time of the day where you all are winding down from the day and the only real events after are chilling or to bed. Some families leave the tv on, which dilutes the conversations, or worse, they have little televisions in their hands the whole time through the whole process, and might speak to ask someone to pass the salt. This to me is one of the lowest standards for dinner for if you made the meal, no-one is enjoying it… sure they say it tastes good but then they eat enough and slide the plate to the center of the table and whoosh, back into their room for the rest of the night. If this sounds like your family, maybe next time yall have dinner wherever, if you are the kid, keep your phone in your pocket, no matter how un-entertaining it is, strike conversation with your parents about their life, or just sit, and enjoy the dinner, no-one has to be talking the whole time, it's ok for there to be some silence… The amount of people comfortable in silence is dwindling day to day. If you're the parent, take their phones or don't let them be on it, this might require some parenting out of you, I know I'm sorry, but if you establish this early, you're setting them up for a good habit in relationships for the rest of their life, not to mention you might even get them to speak about things and their feelings or what's going on in their life, which side note to parents out there listening, talk to your child, not like a child. Ask them real, meaningful questions, and then shut the fuck up, the whole time, shut the fuck up. My parents blessed me with listening to me and allowing me to have my own opinions. It has made me have a great relationship with them now that I'm an adult. The most important part along with shutting the fuck up is asking the right questions. Here's one to try tonight at dinner after you ask them to put away their phones, “Hey so any cool new games coming out soon?” and I'll even throw in a free one, on me “What's a short term goal and a long term goal yall have for yourselves, and what can you do today to head in the right direction.” And then here comes the kicker…
Shut the fuck up and listen.
There are so many fantastic dishes in the world that to count them would be impossible! Why? Because you only know what you have eaten, what about all the amazing moms out there that cook delicious food for their family and you will never get to try it. Sucks but hey, count your blessings. If you live in America, the greatest country in the blue and green planet, then you have amazing food choices almost everywhere, except in the middle of America where the only restaurant is a cornfield. But, if you live in HOUSTON, there is a restaurant on literally every corner… I mean that, every corner. In fact, there are more than 10,000 restaurants in the Houston area with culinary choices that represent more than 70 countries and American regions, not to mention all of the amazing food trucks that are well deserving. With all these choices, where do you even start!
Fish and brewis
Flipper pie
Jiggs dinner
Montreal-style bagel
Montreal-style smoked meat
Nanaimo bar
Oka cheese
Oreilles de crisse
Poutine
Sushi pizza
Toutin
Yellow pea soup.
Fast food
Barbecue
Native American cuisine
Cuisine of the Pennsylvania Dutch
Puerto Rican cuisine
Roadkill cuisine
Soul food
Tailgate party
Tlingit cuisine
California-style pizza
Carne asada fries
Chicago-style hot dog
Chicago-style pizza
Cincinnati chili
Coney Island hot dog
Fish fry
Hot dogs
Italian beef
Kansas City-style barbecue
Lobster roll
Manhattan clam chowder
New England boiled dinner
New England clam bake
New England clam chowder
New York-style pizza
Philadelphia cheesesteak
Santa Maria Style BBQ, Santa Barbara County, California
St. Louis-style barbecue
St. Louis-style pizza
White hot
Just to name a few. Which is what makes cooking so great, because depending on where you are from and the resources you have to use creates what's known as a cuisine unique to you. And where cooking happens, so does eating, so does a community come together, so does conversation, so does healing, so does creative thinking, so does connections form. Which is a great place to head onto the last motif
“My childhood favorite is mum’s shepherd’s pie, Yorkshire pudding, and roasted potatoes. I remember coming home from school and going to the kitchen to help her. It's because of her that I discovered my love for cooking.” Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay, “Fuck yourself.”
Cooking for the people closest to you is an altruistic form of love that we all know well of. When you’re at the end of the rope, laying in death's bed, one thing some people reminisce about is the simple act of their mom taking care of them while they were sick, and how they will lay them down, make sure they have water, and boil a soup. This small act of heating up a can of soup that cost 2 dollars, created a memory and feeling along with it for a century. Cooking is storytelling for the soul. Every flavor, every pinch of ingredient to the hands that kneaded the dough, creates an amazing story that is expressed through selflessly giving your time to others who will enjoy it without sacrifice. It's a great feeling to serve someone like this.
Everyone should be a server of some kind in their early life, it builds confidence, social fluidity, and conflict management. An invaluable skill to have in life is being able to look a stranger in the face, have them immediately trust you to take care of them, you provide an amazing service for them and their family, and serve great food, having them go home with a belly full, a smile wide and a great memory with their family. Truly as a server is the first job I've had where I can really honestly, change people's life. I’ve developed regulars as my time goes to almost a year now being a server, and that makes me feel so great to a point where it almost doesn't feel altruistic anymore, to have someone come to your house for your cooking, to have someone select you out of all other restaurants for your food and service, to have thousands come your way to hear your story, is a feeling i feel develops a great amount of character.
Serve yourself the same platter, serve yourself some great food.
Give yourself excellent service, treat yourself to an amazing experience.
Manage your inner conflicts, if you don't like something, change it, like you would the people at your table.
Talk to yourself like you talk to your guests while they are being served.
While cooking, invite someone to help while eating, eat with a stranger, while at a gathering where people are just drinking and watching sports or something, cook a finger food, i promise you will make one person smile, hopefully also yourself. If you make one, just one person smile a day, that is
7 people a week, 30 to 31 a month, 365 a year, 29200 over an 80-year life…
The crazy part? If you also smile while doing it, that's almost 60,000 people you made happy for just a moment in your life…
Cooking can and still does change the world, it can change yours. Cook yourself a meal here and there, learn how to cook your favorite foods, you'll learn more foods you love and go beyond what you thought you'd like. Create amazing lifelong relations with the people you serve, or who serve you. And last but not least, most servers in America make 2.13 cents an hour, so thank them for their service to you. Preferably with money.
My name is The Art Samurai, this is fun to be back with my new mic, new house, and new life. I will be going back to normal and I hope yall didn't miss me too much. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please pass on this enjoyment and serve someone you think will also like this episode, it truly is a free and crazy valuable thing to me. Thank you for listening, and talk to you soon. Hiya
