The Great Divide

I am tired of reading the phrase "cooking is an art and baking is a science." I have engaged in several discussions centered around the premise that baking is much more precise than cooking. Being more of a baker than a cook, I argue that cooking is also precise and that ignorance of baking is what makes people view it as being more exacting. (I also argue that baking is no more difficult than cooking, but I think I'm nearly alone in that dispute. It's easier for me, but then again, I've always been different.)

I never win any of these arguments. However, I continue to ponder this topic in the hopes that I can make my case in a better manner. I think I finally can.

I still maintain that cooking is as precise as baking (well, good cooking anyway) but I will concede that the precision is applied in a different manner. For instance, too much salt will ruin a dish, yet too little will leave it weak. There is a small window for the right amount of salt. The same can be said for leavening in a cake - too much and you'll get Mount Vesuvius; too little and you will get Great Crater Lake. There is a range of acceptable amounts but it is very narrow.

The largest difference between the two is in how the precision is achieved. In cooking, you can (and should!) add salt at various intervals, tasting as you go, until you finally end up with the right amount. In baking, you must put in the total amount of leavening before you stick the cake in the oven or have the hydration right before letting the bread rise. Both disciplines are precise, but it is generally easier to achieve the precision in cooking.

When the cooking vs. baking arguments are being made, people almost always point to cakes even though pastry encompasses much more than cake. Take pie crusts and cookies, for instance. They are similar - a dough shortened with fat, with the addition of eggs and sugar for cookies (although some pie crusts also contain these). There is a lot of room for fudge factor here. I've seen recipes for pie crusts that call for as little as 6 to as much as 12 tablespoons of fat to a cup of flour. Cookie recipes also have large variances in the amounts of leavening, types of fat and other ingredients. I think one can reasonably argue that there is a lot of wiggle room for turning out a good cookie.

But what really gets my goat is the line drawn in the sand: that is baking, this is cooking. The truth is that there are many overlapping areas, and sometimes the best foods result when this line is blurred or even obliterated. I wish people would think less in terms of baking vs. cooking, and think more about the interplay of ingredients. Egg custards and sauces immediately come to mind. Take eggs, milk and a thickener and you can have both savory and sweet by the addition of different ingredients. The techniques for producing an excellent custard, quiche, creme anglaise, or a savory sabayon are the same and should be known equally by those who profess to be cooks or bakers. 

I felt the same way about the social sciences in college. Each department fiercely defended their territory, lips raised in a snarl regarding that discipline. In fact, the areas of study overlapped greatly, and the application of tools and techniques for one discipline to another greatly increased the knowledge gained compared to studying in a single discipline. That seems to be the case for food as well. As long as people keep guarding their territory or looking with fear or condescension at the "other" discipline, it will retard the growth of both areas. I do think that there are many people now crossing this divide, and I applaud them for it. Please pass the bacon ice cream.

Comments

[Becca]

Darcie, I am right there with you. I love baking, but I give just as much respect to cooking. They are totally linked in my mind. That is one reason I would have a hard time going into either professionally. I could never choose...

[The Fuzzy Chef]

Darcie,

You know, I don't think cooking is an art and baking is a science or vice versa or anything. I think there are cooking artists, and scientists, and it depends on the person doing the cooking.

More about this in a minute.