Depends how big your kitchen is, what you’re making and how organized you are. If you’re working in an appartment kitchenette you can hardly turn around in, probably not. If you’re making a family dinner for a dozen people or more in a big room sized kitchen in a family home, then yeah maybe you want some help.
There are some different modes of cooking in the kitchen.
If you want to intentionally cook with someone, then there needs to be a plan made in advance of who is doing what/where. Plan to make the salad, while the other works on the main dish, etc. This establishes individual work flows and understanding of what resources need to be allocated.
When cooking solo, task scheduling is done in the head linearly and having to stop the flow and redirect it to words can be frustrating as it disrupts speed/timing of scheduled tasks to be completed. This can be done with multiple experienced cooks that are aware of what’s going on without disrupting flow but not your typical couple.
If being intimate is the goal, then choose something that can be done as a group project in a more laid back manner. Think baking cookies, or a sit down activity like shaping gyoza dumplings where more hands the better. Or choose a single recipe where one can be the hand and the other can be the brain as an instructional/learning experience.
If we cook together what really happens is one of us does the actual cooking and the other person preps ingredients/cleans cookware.
Yeah this is how we do. Though usually I do more washing veggies than cutting them. Plus I’ll do the meat usually. But recipe execution and seasonings are all her. I’ll take the brunt of the dishwashing, she usually does counters and stove etc.
It’s always a mix of who does what but usually we get along well in the kitchen.
imagine separating “actual cooking” and “prepping”. Maybe “work the skillet/pot/oven” and “prep” or the typical “pre-prod” “prod” and “post”.
Prepping and cleaning can be shared. That is how you split the labor. That is cooking together. If one person is less skilled maybe try to learn a little so you can enjoy it together (or not, maybe thats just their thing just a suggestion) and maybe if you are the more skilled one offer helpful tips.
Im being too serioili for a meme sub my bad but still cooking together can be fun
imagine separating “actual cooking” and “prepping”
You mean like a professional kitchen?
Ah so when you say you’re gonna cook dinner, people ask you “well who’s going to prep and clean after?” Nope, people know that “cooking dinner” means the whole shebang because it’s, in fact, not a professional kitchen believe it or not
That level of pedantry is maybe why you should focus on building relationships with people in positive ways instead of saying shit like that lol
just cook together dammit, which means doing the prep and cleaning together—you know, the stuff people would enjoy help and company with to lighten the burden? Maybe because you’re in a relationship with each other and actually enjoy making your partners lives a little nicer lol
I make my girlfriend call me chef when we cook together.
Not really, but now I’m going to.
My wife likes me in the kitchen for my mad knife skills but only if I’m on the other side of the butcher block out of her way.
There seems to be a sharp divide here.
I have a friend who is like this, used to be a physical chemist, knows exactly what she is trying to make and it’s a calibrated procedure that she needs to be focused for.
I like hanging out in the kitchen and I certainly like having someone willing to help out with stuff.
Bruh, this hits so hard. I used to work a line, and loved/hated everyone I worked with. I still cook at home occasionally and will happily do so for an SO. But don’t fucking bother me while I’m making you fucking ragu from scratch! This shit takes hours of boiling after cutting up everything, we can talk then!
If my wife or I are cooking, and the other is in the kitchen, there’s an argument. Every damn time. Like girl, get the hell out my way, these onions ain’t chopping themselves and you keep knocking into me.
Yo so true. Get the fuck out of my kitchen! My wife always comes in when I’m juggling 2+ tasks lol. “NO, DONT TRY TO HELP! Love youuuuuu, go grab a drink” lol
I can see both sides of the argument as a former professional, and current recovering perfectionist. I don’t want to be social when I got a 10 inch knife in my hands, but once I’m actually cooking and not just cutting stuff up, let’s make it a group activity! But I grew up in a household where cooking was considered social hour.
I like cooking with a partner, but we tend to choose before starting who is the chef and who is the sous for that meal. The sous just preps and keeps the space tidy and fetches shit while the chef orchestrates and cooks. This is a heck of a lot more fun, and then the chef can be like “go set the table” or “start washing up” once there’s nothing else needed. Keeps it moving
I mean it’s great cooking with people that have a teamwork mindset just like in a good restaurant. But with backseat chefs that barge in halfway through the cooking process wanting you to change up the whole meal it just doesn’t work. It’s like…OK but why didn’t you tell me an hour ago? And this is gonna double the dishes to clean.
This also allows one of you to respond to every command with “Yes, Chef!” which is fun.
this meme doesn’t apply to everyone. my dad helps my mom cook all the time. When i was with my ex i would of loved her help, and offered mine.
I agree with you, but it’s “would have” sorry for the pedantic nature of this comment, but that kinda mistake makes me irrationally angry.
fair enough
i see your pedantry and raise you one further, they clearly meant “would’ve” which sounds just like “would of”
i raise you one further, and put red on 0
Granted
i would say cooking together works when one is the main cook and other is prepping or both work on different components of the meal
Cooking together is like dancing - both have to pay attention to, and complement, their partner’s movements.
I have friends who’s kitchen work as a couple is as amazing to watch as great ballroom dancers, but with hot things and sharp knives.
We love cooking together but it usually means she cuts an onion very very slowly and tells me a story, while I cut the rest and cook the food. But we still love it both spending time together this way.
Honestly that’s basically all I ever wanted when I’d ask my ex to come cook with me…
I then started saying “can you just come hang out with me at least? You don’t have to do anything, just hang out. I don’t even like cooking and doing it by myself while you watch TV isn’t really fun to me…”
Ex for a reason, but that’s all I ever wanted as well. Cooking used to be a social activity. It still should be.
This is how it’s done!
I love cooking together, especially if it’s something complicated that requires a lot of prep and multiple steps. If you have good communication with your partner it can be fun, it really feels like team effort, and it can speed up the cooking quite a bit. Overall it’s probably easier to cook alone, but cooking together is faster and more fun in my experience.
If I’m cooking, I don’t mind someone in there helping by doing some of the recipe steps on the other counter out of my way
I used to be married to a chef, cooking together was one of our primary bonding points. They taught me how to cook at a professional quality but I’ve never gotten to a professional speed. Usually that meant I’d do prep work while they did a million things around me but as long as I was in my station it worked really well. Even now we’re not together I love cooking with people in general doesn’t matter if they get in my way or not. It’s just such a fun way to interact with people and I’m more invested in that than whatever the food result is
My wife cannot cook with me because she cannot fathom that I worked in kitchens, I watch youtube chefs for fun and when I want to I can COOK. She hasnt, doesnt and cant but thinks this is an equal partnership where there isnt someone in charge and someone helping. Ive tried but she just has no concept of time management or order of operations but perhaps the worst was when I was chopping vegetables and she reached under the blade to pinch a fresh slice to eat and popped it in her mouth with a smile… she stuck her fingers under a razor sharp chefs knife mid stroke to be cute…
Nope. 3 digit hand jobs are not sexy, I’ll cook for you sweetheart go relax.
