Gluten forms, air creates blubbles, carbon dioxide gas fills the bubbles… and silence… until about an hour later. More bubbles have formed… and squish, squash, you knead the dough and form a loaf of bread. More silence follows. Beep! The oven is hot and the ball of doughy chemical reactions enters the box of heat where even more chemical reactions will soldify that flour, water, yeast concoction into a real loaf of bread. It is all chemistry. God created chemistry and we get to experience it first-hand in the kitchen, whether we are the cook or, one might specualate, the eater. Mama with a family to feed, you are a chemist. Girl with goods to bake, you are also a chemist. Mouth with delicious food to eat, I suppose that you are a chemist, too. Whichever one is you, there is always improvement to be made in the kitchen, and that is the reason why I have a cooking challenge for you.
Why take on this challenge?
First of all, why should you invest your time and effort into this cooking challenge? I believe that there are three reasons: 1) to learn 2) to gain experience 3) to become a better cook/baker/eater (of course, the challenge includes eating, but you must, must, must do the cooking and baking part, too, or else this challenge is not to the benefit of the secret kitchen chemist in you).
What the challenge is:
Now for the challenge: you must make a goal to bake or cook something new in your kitchen this month. In fact, it can be any number of new foods or recipes. Just make a goal and a plan to achieve it. Then, follow through with your plan! For instance, I recently baked a loaf of whole wheat french bread for the first time. I learned about bread, the consistency of the dough, how much it rises, and more. In my opinion, I made the bread too salty, but I learned from my mistake to add less salt next time. I also leared how to tell that bread is done baking. The experience I gained from this baking venture can never be taken back… unless I forget what a learned. Most times, however, hands-on experience does not easily slip away from one’s mental or muscular memory. Since I have this experience from which I learned so much under my belt, I hope to be a better bread maker in the future.
Do not be scared away because of kitchen failures in the past.
Trying new things in the kitchen helps you learn, gain experience, and improve. Now, I know that some may be thinking, “I do NOT cook or bake, and I never will.” I want to encourage you to just try to cook or bake three new foods or recipes this month. If you make mistakes, you can learn from them when you reflect, figure out the problem, and identify what you should do differently. Futhermore, you should be persuaded to not give up not cooking or baking because you make a lot of mistakes or you dislike it.
Some people have culinary gifts, and that may not be you. It is not me. However, cooking and baking is a very valuable skill that everyone can learn to do. So many good memories can be made in the kitchen as well that far outweigh the bad ones. If you are still not convinced that this challenge is for you, take a look at kitchen activity from a chemist’s point of view. Research the chemical reactions in the foods that you prepare and you may just be surprised how much they interest you. Cooking often becomes a ton more fascinating when one understands why it works the way it does. Besides, when all the recipe modifactions you can make fail, the chemistry behind food is consistent and may help you figure out a solution.
All in all, this challenge is designed to help you become a better cook or baker no matter how good you already are by inspiring you to learn how to make a new dish, or how to not make it if your attempt is unsuccessful, and to enable you to gain more experience in the kitchen which leads to your improvement as a cook, baker, memory-maker, and, hey, a chemist! Give it a shot. It is never to late to get busy in the kitchen with preparing a yummy dinner or dessert to enjoy!
