Coming to BYU this fall without a roommate was a little bit nerve-wracking. What made it especially suspenseful was that we never communicated beforehand, and then he only showed up the day before class started. When Matt finally arrived, his entire family was with him to help him move. It was fun talking to his family for a bit, listening to the advice they were giving their son. Their parting wisdom to me was this…”Our son makes outstanding omelets…have him make one for you sometime.” Suddenly, I not only had a roommate, but an omelet-making expert as well.
About ten days after that moment, Matt decided to make omelets for all of us out of the goodness of his heart. Though I remembered he was supposedly good, I wasn’t quite prepared for the deliciousness.
Deciding what to have an expert teach me was a no-brainer…Matt, teach me your ways with the omelet.
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| The expert hard at work |
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| My turn |
The process itself sounds simple enough. Crack two eggs, beat them, add season salt, pour in pan, wait till it looks like this, add cheese, add meat, etc. But the difference between reading something like that off a website, and witnessing a master at work was huge. I was able to observe exactly what it took to duplicate his work, forming mental images that I could repeat when it was my turn. Simply reading would not have been enough. The tactile experience was more important than any of his technical explanations.
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| Ingredients |
Matt knew exactly what he was doing. What was interesting to me, however, was when he explained that “Technically I do it the wrong way…” Through his own experimentation, Matt had developed techniques that worked for him separate from how he had first learned. It was important for me to realize how easily folk knowledge can evolve and become personal. I don't necessarily think that anything is being lost when Matt develops his own techniques. Rather, the skill of omelet making is being refined and is given a unique personality. Should we mourn the loss of one specific way of making an omelet? I don't think we should, as long as the greater art still exists. We can celebrate variety. Now, obviously this is a rather trivial bit of folk knowledge, but I feel like the same argument applies to other categories of knowledge.
I will continue to use Matt’s technique, due to its taste and simplicity, but I am quite sure I will develop new techniques as I utilize this knowledge more frequently.
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| My finished product |
"Technically I do it the wrong way" - how you truly know that they are a good cook, haha :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post because of your humor. The ketchup bottle's "NO High Fructose Corn Syrup" was pretty funny too, since everything store-bought and not grown or entirely naturally created pretty much does have it.
Trust me, your folk knowledge isn't the most trivial... haha. Cooking is very important in college so that you can get plenty to eat while avoiding the unhealthiness of pre-packaged food and so you don't have to pay more for eating out all the time. It's good that you're learning it!
Cooking is definitely by far one of the most important things I have learned in college. And omelets are a super great breakfast foods because you get your protein and (if you add veggies), you get lots of vitamins and fiber--not to mention your Omega 3! Haha. And I about jumped out of my seat in excitement over the "No High Fructose Corn Syrup!"
ReplyDeleteI hope you and your roommate keep it up and learn to make a lot more recipes because it will definitely help you. Just eating a healthy balanced diet, taking vitamins, and drinking enough water can make a HUGE difference. Say NO to processed foods. This is my testimony.
Amen.
Cooking for yourself can be exciting...today I successfully created a delicious "BBQ snack wrap" for myself and a date. Cooking can be a very social event that can create lasting memories. For instance...I'll never forget how my roommates somehow managed to screw up microwave popcorn. I got home the other night to find all the doors propped open, a fan blowing out burnt popcorn smell, and stories of plumes of smoke.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Alex. The pictures really helped.
ReplyDeleteMicrowave popcorn can be touchy... Ive found that it is more fool proof (believe it or not) to cook it out of a pot. Plus, you can add fun ingredients to it! (Like cheese and chili powder...hahah Mmmm)
ReplyDelete