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Important of A Cooking System in Sustainable Home Cooking

Writer's picture: H. Tak CheungH. Tak Cheung

There are two methods I use to teach others about home cooking. The first involves demonstrating how to prepare a specific dish using a recipe. This is a one-time cooking lesson focused on a single dish. The second method is to showcase a cooking system applicable to all areas of home cooking. This system enables individuals to master fundamental principles and techniques, integrating home cooking into their daily routine.


Some people already have a system they've used for a while, and they can adapt parts of my system that suit their needs. For beginners, the system I will present below may help them start and gradually personalize it. The following description of this cooking system provides a general guideline applicable in various situations. The key message I wish to convey is the importance of having a cooking system, which allows a home cook to continue developing and make home cooking a vital part of their lives, reaping the full benefits of this essential daily activity.


Developing these cooking systems involves six aspects, as shown in the flow in the beginning of this article. These six distinct steps include the essential attributes that enable any system to function effectively. The same principles can be applied by someone aiming to make exercise a lifelong pursuit or to learn piano playing as a lifelong hobby. The significance of any system lies in its components, which assist a person in mastering the basics and progressing to make it a part of their life and ultimately their identity. It evolves into a lifestyle, serving as an approach and even a philosophy. It begins with an interest, intention, or curiosity, transforming into a commitment and dedication to how life should be focused or conducted.



Consistency


Consistency is the foundational element of any home cooking system or system in general. For many, this is likely the most challenging aspect to implement. With numerous daily tasks, finding time to cook is difficult, especially with many alternative dining options available. This is the initial and crucial decision concerning home cooking. Consistency is essential to assess your dedication to home cooking and to determine if the effort is worth the time required for the process.


Here, I wish to offer some encouragement. I'll use Martha as an example, who wanted to prepare all her meals for various reasons, which I won't delve into. However, her determination was strong enough that she decided to follow my advice on consistency and try it for one month. By the end of the month, she could decide if this was the path she wanted to pursue. Here is my advice to her.


First, she needs to determine how much time she is willing to allocate each day to cook for herself and her family. Martha works full-time and previously found herself too tired and pressed for time to prepare meals. She has thirty minutes to spare and is willing to dedicate that time. She then needs to decide how often she will cook, whether every night or just on weekends. She chose to cook every night.


Second, she needs to decide what types of meals she and her family are willing and interested in eating each evening. Her home cooking goals are primarily health-driven for herself and her family. Therefore, she wants to prepare meals using fresh ingredients from scratch. She decided to try my cooking system because the FAST Cooking System's various attributes allow her to achieve her dietary goals and cook within her available time.


Based on these considerations, the first step for her is to adopt the part of the FAST Cooking System that meets these criteria. Consistency involves several components. To be consistent, the cooking each evening must be manageable within her available time and the effort she is willing to invest. Consequently, she began with a simple system using a few basic templates that she could regularly repeat to familiarize herself with the cooking system.


Consistency offers many benefits, the most significant being the understanding of simplicity and efficiency. She aims to develop a cooking routine that fits her available time. Her focus is not on creating elaborate meals but on preparing functional and acceptable ones. Although she repeats the same dishes, she avoids the monotony of cooking and eating the same meals daily. By using template-based cooking, she can create variations and learn about the simplicity and efficiency of making interesting meals.


One month later, Martha found her experiment successful. She established a basic cooking system that meets her meal quality expectations. Most importantly, she developed and embraced a system suitable for her lifestyle, work schedule, and family needs. With consistency, she now sees the potential of a home cooking system that can be integrated into her daily life.


Competence


After achieving consistency, the process and challenges of developing a cooking system has become simpler and more predictable. One major hurdle in home cooking is inertia. In this part of the discussion, I will use Stan as an example. Stan is retired and lives alone. He aims to eat healthier after retiring and faces numerous health issues that require various prescription medications, often leading to unwanted side effects.


Stan's challenge lies in cooking, particularly in getting started. He has the time but lacks the motivation and drive to begin cooking. It takes Stan one to two hours to prepare a meal, and he is always satisfied with the result. However, the time and effort required often exceed what he is willing to invest. Additionally, he dislikes the cleanup afterward, leading him to leave dirty dishes for the next day, which further discourages him from cooking.


Stan resolved his problem by creating an effective cooking system that enables spontaneous home cooking. His setup allows him to begin cooking instantly, with all ingredients, tools, and spices easily accessible. He generally knows what he wants to prepare, but he often refines the specifics at the last minute, providing him with greater flexibility. Additionally, he has implemented a cleanup system, allowing him to tidy up as he cooks.


Competence is measured by spontaneity and intuition. A competent cook has mastered the fundamental aspects of cooking. They do not need recipes or instructions for basic cooking steps, having incorporated these processes into reliable habits. Stan has achieved the ability to cook anytime and anything, allowing him the flexibility to prepare a meal in 5 minutes or 50 minutes, depending on his mood and what he wishes to cook. This has granted him the freedom to cook creatively because he has a system that enables him to pursue his culinary desires in any direction.


Creativity


When my friend Julia began cooking after adopting the FAST Cooking System, her main aim was to save time and alleviate the monotony of preparing a limited variety of meals. Although Julia has been cooking her whole life, she always found it to be a chore. She watches cooking shows with the same enthusiasm as detective series but has always confessed to lacking creativity in home cooking.


Embracing a cooking system has completely transformed her outlook, and she now approaches cooking with the same passion she had for sketching as a child. She used to take her sketchbook everywhere, capturing anything that intrigued and delighted her. She had a system, complete with her favorite pencils, pens, sketchbooks, and fundamental skills. She now understands that having a system can help her achieve a similar level of creativity in home cooking.


Consistency and competence can develop a system that naturally fosters creativity. With all the essential equipment, ingredients, flavoring agents, and cooking techniques at one's fingertips, creativity emerges naturally as one explores new possibilities, enhances existing flavors, and seeks new culinary experiences. This creative process further fuels the desire for home cooking, making it more consistent and expanding one's level of competence.


Commitment


Carlos, one of my YouTube subscribers, shared his story about the significance of creating a home cooking system that transformed his life. Carlos works multiple jobs and rarely finds time to cook. Often, when he gets home late in the evening, he's only able to grab a frozen pizza from the freezer and put it in the oven. He then sits on the sofa watching television until the pizza is ready. However, he disliked this lifestyle and knew it wasn't good for him.


He began using my FAST Cooking System and achieved some initial success after learning basic skills and starting to cook regularly. Yet, there were times when he was too tired to cook or lacked the motivation to shop, prep, and cook. Despite this, he experienced early success and realized that if he wanted to continue home cooking for his long-term health, he needed to change.


Carlos's next step was commitment. He removed all commercial convenience foods from his pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. He stopped eating fast food and ordering take-out. Instead, he prepared his lunches and brought them to work. He established a rule against dining out. This shift significantly influenced the development of his home cooking system. He quickly expanded on his knowledge and successfully established a consistent home cooking routine. For many, achieving success in home cooking often requires a system that removes the temptation of commercial convenience foods. These changes demand a commitment to changing old habits and adopting a new approach to eating and food preparation.


Rewards


For any system to succeed, it must include a reward mechanism. These rewards can be both tangible and intangible. In a successful cooking system, there are various rewards, and individuals may find one type more satisfying than another. However, the variety of rewards is crucial, and it is essential to continually seek and utilize these rewards.


My friend Yannick loves stir-frying, which helps him relax and reduce stress, especially after his long commute from work. When he gets home, he eagerly heads to the kitchen to start cooking. He finds the kitchen time relaxing, and with the established cooking system, home cooking becomes predictable and controlled. He enjoys the mindfulness during stir-frying, allowing him to appreciate the tactile, visual, and aromatic aspects of cooking. Additionally, he loves the creativity he can bring to his culinary creations. He achieves all this because he has a system that offers regularity and predictability.


My friend Catherine values a different type of reward: the social connections she can foster with family and friends. With her cooking system, she can invite her granddaughter, who attends a nearby college, to dinner every weekend. She often invites close friends and neighbors for a meal on short notice. None of this would be possible without a cooking system that provides her with the flexibility, adaptability, and richness to create spontaneous meals.


Conviction


My friend Jim embraced the FAST Cooking System nearly four years ago. For him, home cooking is a lifestyle, reflecting his beliefs and his relationship with food. He strongly values the benefits of home-cooked meals just as he values freedom of speech. He is prepared to defend the significance of home cooking in environmental protection, and the system helps him continue to appreciate the importance of sustainable agriculture.


A cooking system continues to evolve, and its fundamental aspects often become a powerful expression of personal identity. Not everyone experiences this transformation, but for some, it creates a new belief system that represents a lifestyle. For Jim, the way he cooks and eats reflects his attitude toward food, his health, his relationships with others, his stance on agriculture, food production, and the impact of diet on health.


It's important to understand that learning and adopting a cooking system goes beyond mastering a specific dish, as the methodology, principles, and applications extend beyond food. A cooking system shares a set of ideas about how food shapes us individually and collectively. It's crucial to consider not only what food can do for us but also what we can do for food. It helps us create an identity to share with others, reflecting our perceptions of how food affects our lives and theirs.


Summary


If you're just starting with home cooking and want to make it a lasting part of your daily life, it's normal to feel like quitting after a few tries. Home cooking can be difficult to sustain because it often involves complexity, failures, and disappointment. When you're worn out or pressed for time, the temptation of convenient commercial food is always available to satisfy your needs. There's nothing wrong with choosing that option, but it's important to be aware of the possible long-term effects of your decisions.


However, if you want home cooking to endure and thrive amidst the daily challenges of finding time, creating mental space, and being ready to cook, this article might assist you. It outlines six attributes: Consistency, Competence, Creativity, Commitment, Rewards, and Conviction, which can guide you through tough times and help you become dedicated to home cooking. This tradition, spanning thousands of years, offers emotional, social, and environmental benefits, along with health advantages.


All you need is a system, and the FAST Cooking System is one possible approach to help you achieve your goal.






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