This past week my husband and I were in the kitchen cooking together.   We decided to make a big batch of navy bean soup.   It was basically chicken broth, carrots, celery, onion, water, garlic, parsley and navy beans.   I don’t remember when, but at some point one of us must have started telling the other person the “right way” to do something.    It got us on a discussion about is there really a “right” way to cook.   At first, my reaction is no, there is no right way.   However a person cooks, as long as they like it, then it is “right” for them.  But the more we countered each other’s argument, I came to disagree with my first overly simplified assessment. 

There are important guidelines that should be respected and followed when cooking.  Once you start dealing with personal preferences and tastes… it can change the actual meaning and integrity of the dish.  For worse or for better, is left to be seen.   For me, the right way to chop celery for the soup was to dice it so it cooks quicker.   My husband however wanted larger chopped pieces of celery for his soup.  I insisted, no do it smaller to cook  it through more.   Alas, we agreed it was his soup and whatever he wanted, would be fine… this time.   This is personal preference, thus no one right way.

However, get an Italian from the North with an Italian from the South and have them each tell you which is the right way to cook a true Italian pasta sauce.   There will be no agreement reached, because in my opinion… there is no “one” right way, but there may be a “few” right ways.  But in all fairness, there certainly will be a few definate ”wrong” ways as well.   When dealing with a cultural recipe or technique, there can be “wrong” ways to preparing an Italian recipe.  For example, if you cook a Sicilian meal, perhaps fish and pasta, you better make sure it is true to Sicilian culture otherwise do not call it Sicilian.   Pizza is a good example.  Napoletana pizza should be very thin with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.  That is simply what it is.  I can attest to this since I was in the Napoletana vicinity of Italy (between Rome and Naples) and that is what we had.    If you order a Napoletana pizza and it is served thick with lots of meat - the chef cooked it the wrong way.   Period.  

So next time there is a discussion about which way is the right way to cook a dish or prepare an ingredient, first ask yourself if doing it the “wrong” way would mean compromising the integrity of the cultural aspect of the dish.  If not, then consider it a “different” way, not a “wrong” way.   Trust me, it will help keep harmony in the kitchen!

Liz
Simple Italian Cooking

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