It seems that people often cling to the “old way” of doing things even if the new way is faster and better because of some emotional attachment to the way they have always done things.
With cooking, the trouble is that it doesn’t scale, or rather, the economies of scale come at the inevitable expense of quality. A home-made meal prepared by a skilled cook and with well chosen ingredients is guaranteed to be superior even to the output of restaurants, let alone to something produced on an industrial scale. (Especially when you consider that the home-made meal can be subtly customized to your taste.)
I think quality is to some degree subjective when it comes to judging a meal.
I know several people who are widely praised as great cooks, but I have meals at multiple restaurants that I prefer to anything I’ve had home cooked. I’m not talking about high-dollar places either. Just places your typical middle-class American has access to.
An overlooked factor in how nice something tastes at a given time is whether it “hits the spot”—if it’s exactly what you wanted. Since restaurants are usually consistent about what all goes into their food, you can become familiar with what spots those meals will hit, and get them at the best times.
Or you can learn to cook and hit the spot all the time ;) But it’s hard to reliably do it for someone else, so if you’re eating others’ cooking it may not accomplish this.
When I go to a restaurant, I almost always get the same thing I got last time with the thinking: “I may not like what I get if I get something new, and I already know I love X.”
My initial reaction to the idea of learning to cook is similar. Why go through the trouble, when I already love what I’m getting!
For certain sufficiently generic, low-value-on-variety preferences, learning to cook could be the last thing on your list for what you need to make your life better. (I dislike certain very common foods and food combinations, and I love variety, so while I can eat out I can’t do it that often and be pleased about it.)
I just want to point out that I have low-value-value-on-variety only when it comes to food preferences. :D
Other areas of my life are full of variety and I’m always seeking out more.
Also, just to expand on what’s happening here...
Whenever I have new dishes for whatever reason, I don’t automatically dislike them because they’re something new. For example, I recently found out how much I like red onions on a cold cut sandwich. I think what goes on in my specific case is that there are lots of things that I don’t eat now that I would probably like, but eating food I like consistently (by sticking to the things I know) is more important to me than finding the foods I haven’t tried but may like.
Of course, these aren’t absolutes. I will from time to time become tired of something and try something new.
I would suggest that even the best restaurant still has to optimize between making your food good, and being able to serve other patrons the same day. You’ll never get the culinary equivalent of a Sistine Chapel ceiling at a restaurant; it’d be uneconomical. You might get it for your birthday if your romantic partner is a chef, though.
A home-made meal prepared by a skilled cook and with well chosen ingredients is guaranteed to be superior even to the output of restaurants, let alone to something produced on an industrial scale.
Not even that skilled. Commercial cooking, including restaurant cooking, is the industry of turning mediocre (at best) ingredients into something people will pay a premium for. Have you ever seen a commercial cook’s eyes light up at the prospect of having actually good ingredients to cook with? I’m thinking of an old girlfriend: “I will make you the best meal ever. Buy this list of fairly basic ingredients.”
With cooking, the trouble is that it doesn’t scale, or rather, the economies of scale come at the inevitable expense of quality. A home-made meal prepared by a skilled cook and with well chosen ingredients is guaranteed to be superior even to the output of restaurants, let alone to something produced on an industrial scale. (Especially when you consider that the home-made meal can be subtly customized to your taste.)
I think quality is to some degree subjective when it comes to judging a meal.
I know several people who are widely praised as great cooks, but I have meals at multiple restaurants that I prefer to anything I’ve had home cooked. I’m not talking about high-dollar places either. Just places your typical middle-class American has access to.
An overlooked factor in how nice something tastes at a given time is whether it “hits the spot”—if it’s exactly what you wanted. Since restaurants are usually consistent about what all goes into their food, you can become familiar with what spots those meals will hit, and get them at the best times.
Or you can learn to cook and hit the spot all the time ;) But it’s hard to reliably do it for someone else, so if you’re eating others’ cooking it may not accomplish this.
Interesting point!
I suspect I’ll have a problem though.
When I go to a restaurant, I almost always get the same thing I got last time with the thinking: “I may not like what I get if I get something new, and I already know I love X.”
My initial reaction to the idea of learning to cook is similar. Why go through the trouble, when I already love what I’m getting!
I suppose food just isn’t that important to me.
For certain sufficiently generic, low-value-on-variety preferences, learning to cook could be the last thing on your list for what you need to make your life better. (I dislike certain very common foods and food combinations, and I love variety, so while I can eat out I can’t do it that often and be pleased about it.)
I just want to point out that I have low-value-value-on-variety only when it comes to food preferences. :D
Other areas of my life are full of variety and I’m always seeking out more.
Also, just to expand on what’s happening here...
Whenever I have new dishes for whatever reason, I don’t automatically dislike them because they’re something new. For example, I recently found out how much I like red onions on a cold cut sandwich. I think what goes on in my specific case is that there are lots of things that I don’t eat now that I would probably like, but eating food I like consistently (by sticking to the things I know) is more important to me than finding the foods I haven’t tried but may like.
Of course, these aren’t absolutes. I will from time to time become tired of something and try something new.
If you’re willing to pay enough, you can get insane numbers of cooks working on a single dish at a restaurant.
As compared to a really good restaurant, a home-made meal is only better because you’re not paying the chef or the rent.
I would suggest that even the best restaurant still has to optimize between making your food good, and being able to serve other patrons the same day. You’ll never get the culinary equivalent of a Sistine Chapel ceiling at a restaurant; it’d be uneconomical. You might get it for your birthday if your romantic partner is a chef, though.
Not even that skilled. Commercial cooking, including restaurant cooking, is the industry of turning mediocre (at best) ingredients into something people will pay a premium for. Have you ever seen a commercial cook’s eyes light up at the prospect of having actually good ingredients to cook with? I’m thinking of an old girlfriend: “I will make you the best meal ever. Buy this list of fairly basic ingredients.”