Cooks and Bakers

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Cooking is a versatile art where flavors change and new ingredients can be introduced at any time. With a few exception of ingredients to go easy on; like Scotch bonnet peppers, nutmeg, and fresh mint to mention a few, your kitchen is a wild west where just about anything (within reason) goes.

The clear difference between cooking and baking is the flexibility. Baking must be exact while cooking, well; cooking goes with the flow of the cooks’ moods and available ingredients. I can simmer a chicken stock for hours to make a soup or I can make a soup quickly as possible and yield two enjoyable meals.

Baking requires precision of everything to work. With a very small margin of error, baking will deliver the same results all the time. The lack of latitude offers the baker certainty which will always come in handy when ones plate is full.

We first met Mike at a sushi bar, talking about Buddhism; he asked if following the philosophy would impair him to do his job. Mike is young, committed to his career, and stressed out, all the time. Mike is a baker, he goes blank when he bakes, baking is Mike’s quiet time.

Suzy is impeccable, her appearance, her kitchen, she looks like she just walked out of the 1950s; she is a baker, everything perfect, all the time.

I cannot follow a recipe without making changes. I feel the need of exploring and see how far I can expand the primary idea into something else. For me, it is about the excitement of doubting the results while trying a different way of cooking a known ingredient, or experimenting with a new one. I’m a bad baker.

Both baking and cooking can be enjoyed by different personalities, just find what better fit yours and carry on eating your own food.

The following gadgets can inspire and make cooking and baking easier

Available on Amazon.com

KitchenAid Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield