Thursday, April 22, 2010

Dig in, enjoy and come back for more

Many of the Masterchef contestants say that they cook to bring people joy. This makes me wonder if cooking is perhaps the most selfless of the arts . . . I think that the other arts do tend to be more serious or self-focussed. So, while you might dance to perform, you also might do it just to revel in the experience, or - for the professional dancer - to communicate. It's only sometimes about bringing pleasure to the audience. With writing this is even more true. Of course you write to give something to your readers, but you also write for yourself and in pursuit of some literary end, which is as like to be sad as happy. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the other arts, yet there is something admirable about the reasons for cooking.