“For is there any practice less selfish, any labor less alienated, any time less wasted, than preparing something delicious and nourishing for people you love?” From Cooked: “Fire”
What is the philosophy of food? Or the transcendental idea in the act of cooking? These are the thoughts that ambled in and out of my mind as I watched the first episode of Cooked: “Fire” on Netflix. Cooking is essentially human and because of this, to think deeply about it begins to crack the crust of purpose and meaning which for most of the speakers in the show will resignedly and obligatorily point back to evolution but I believe that it truly “hints” at something or someone much larger.
After one watch there are a few things that I found intriguing:
· It is unlike the shows I have watched on the Food Channel. It is thoughtful and paced, not thrown together for entertainment. It is not about a race, it is about life.
· It is not about recipes.
· The filming is beautiful.
· An Australian aboriginal child is “baptized” by fire and smoke.
· One professor tried to survive on the raw diet that the chimpanzees ate and found it utterly impossible.
· That some species spend a majority of their day just chewing.
· Because of the philosophizing the show has an almost religious affect to it.
I have not watched the other episodes yet, but they are soon to follow.
-TK