📘 Part 3: Cooking

This episode's vocabulary

Utensil (noun) - a tool with a particular use, especially in a kitchen or house.

Starchy (adj.) - containing a lot of starch.

Tattie (noun) - a potato.

Stall (noun) - a large table or a small shop with an open front from which goods are sold in a public place.

Foodstuff (noun) - any substance that is used as food or to make food.

On display - arranged for people to look at or buy in a store.

Substantial (adj.) - large in size, value, or importance.

Proliferation (noun) - the fact of something increasing a lot and suddenly in number or amount.

Ready meal (noun) - a meal cooked and bought at a shop but taken somewhere else, often home, to be heated and eaten.

Contingent on/upon something (phrase) - depending on something else in the future in order to happen

To incline to/towards something (phrasal verb) - to think that a belief or opinion is probably correct.

Questions and Answers

M: What do we need to prepare when we cook?

R: Well, not being a cook myself, that's a very good question. However, I suppose generally, it's important to sort out what ingredients and utensils you need. Probably reading the recipe will be helpful too, with that in mind.

M: Why do people cook for others?

R: Why does anyone do anything for others? It's all about building and reinforcing relationships and social bonds. If you're a great chef, people see the value in that and appreciate the effort you've made. And that strengthens the connection.

M: And has it always been like this?

R: Well, I haven't been alive that long. But I think so, yeah. People have cooked for 1000s of years with the same intentions in mind. They've done lots of things together with the same intentions in mind.

M: But now things have changed in terms of cooking, right?

R: I don't think so. Have they? I mean, people do it less often. But the reasons why people do it together remain consistent when it does happen.

M: And what do people usually cook in your country?

R: Oh, I remember reading an article about this. Apparently, the diet's not changed in hundreds of years. So it's still starchy foods like potatoes. And then we also have other vegetables and meat together. So things like, well, we call it mince and tatties, but I guess you would call it minced meat and potatoes.

M: Do you agree that food is an important part of the festivals in your country?

R: Well, I've never really thought about it, to be honest with you. Though now you mention it, I suppose it does, actually. There are always food stalls with various local foodstuffs and products on display when you go to these things. Lots of companies produce branded food products too, which creates a sense of shared culture and community.

M: Which dishes are a must at festivals?

R: Well, that will depend entirely on where you live and what you have to work with, won't it? However, generally, I'd say it's important to have something substantial to help people manage their hunger if it's a whole day thing. In Scotland, most events have burger vans and stands with that in mind.

M: Lots of people don't want to cook these days. Why?

R: And I am one of them. Talking more broadly, though, I suppose with the proliferation of ready meals and increasing workloads, people just don't have the need or the energy for it anymore. So they just don't bother. And you can see the logic in that. If you don't have or want to, then why would you?

M: And why do people enjoy cooking?

R: Well, I guess for the opposite reasons. They have the time and money on their hands.

M: And do you think in the future more people will stop cooking?

R: I think that's entirely contingent on cultural and family values, really. If you think social bonds and families are important, and they are for things like mutual support, then you will have to make more of an effort. And if you don't, then you'll be less inclined to.

M: Is it important to have a meal together with your family?

R: Oh, I think that's entirely contingent on cultural and family values, really. If you think social bonds and families are important, and they are for things like mutual support, then you'll make more of an effort. And if you don't, then you'll be less inclined to or at least less inclined to do so.