By: Taylor Healey
Baking is an art form, a science, and a source of endless creativity. Unlike cooking, which often involves haphazardly throwing ingredients together and hoping for the best, baking requires precision, measurement, and attention to detail. Every ingredient has a specific role to play, and even slight variations can lead to vastly different results. This level of precision allows bakers to create beautiful and delicious treats that are truly a work of art. The attention and care that baking takes forces you to be present in the moment, making it the perfect opportunity to bond with someone you care about
When you’re baking, you need to measure out your ingredients carefully and follow the recipe exactly. This attention to detail leads to more consistent results, so you know that your cookies will come out perfectly every time.
Cooking, on the other hand, is a more freeform process. You can add a little of this and a little of that, and as long as it tastes good, it’s considered a success. But this lack of precision can also lead to consistency, so you might get different results every time you cook a dish.
In addition to the creativity and precision that baking allows, it is a much more relaxing and satisfying activity. While cooking can be hectic and chaotic, baking allows for a sense of calm and focus. The repetitive and methodical nature of mixing, measuring, and stirring can be therapeutic, and the result is always something delicious to enjoy.
Furthermore, baking can be a great way to bond with others. Whether you’re baking with your family, friends, or significant other, the act of creating something together can be a fun and rewarding experience. Baking also allows for opportunities to try new recipes and experiment with different ingredients, adding excitement and variety to your culinary experiences.
Baking started over 6,000 years ago, and some of those recipes are still being passed down. I love that with each generation, recipes change over time, evolving with us and our lifestyles. My recipes will just always have more sugar in them than my grandmothers do, but that same thing could be altered by my future kids or grandkids. It’s amazing how adaptable baking can be. I like to view our recipes as stories into the lives of those who wrote them.
The ingredients can tell us a whole lot about the world that the recipes were designed. Baked goods that came from the great-depression tend to be denser and made with cheaper ingredients because that’s what they had access to at the time. Culturally food has such a massive impact on us. Food is so different around the world, not just in the flavors but in the social implications and traditions that it holds in each nation. Our nation was made by immigrants who brought different delicacies from around the world. Baking is a way to connect with your heritage and culture at large.
No matter how far away from home, you always have that recipe that brings you back home. Food is a universal love language that connects us all.
Baking is superior to cooking because it allows for creativity, precision, relaxation, and bonding. So the next time you’re in the kitchen, why not try your hand at baking instead of cooking? You might just find that it’s the most enjoyable and satisfying way to prepare food.
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