Kitchen Research: Cooking. Is it an Art, Sport or Both?

““In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport.” - Julia Child”

More Than Champs (MTC) Kitchen |Photo: Michael Browning

I have been cooking since I was 7 years old, and yet I did not consider myself a real cook until a few years ago. I have, however, always considered myself a creator who developed into an artist. I have never been one for titles and labels. I believe that an individual’s life cannot be viewed through personal accolades, a trophy case, or a given moment.

An artist eliminates all borders and boundaries. An artist has one clear purpose: to use his or her talents to bring a vision into fruition. All artists are visionaries, but not all visionaries are artists.

When we think of arts and sports, the first thing that may come to mind is Van Gogh, baseball, Picasso, soccer, Michelangelo or basketball. These are the artists we learn about in early childhood. These are the sports that we learn to play in early school gym classes and with which we become very familiar. However, I recently asked myself - is cooking an art, sport or both?

When I was in junior high, I tried out for the senior basketball team and actually made the team. It was a surprise to me because I was just a junior. As a kid from Chicago, that was big time to me. I remember Coach Greenburg called on me and I would step up every time. I figured I had the skill down; unfortunately that was not the case. It felt like most times I was given the ball I would lose it or if I had an open shot it was like tossing a brick! After my first official game, the only time I had on the court was when the team was walking into the gym to sit on the bench. Yes indeed, I was humbled and became the best seat warmer the team had that game. To this day I’m still passionate about sports and greatly appreciate my time on the team because I was a junior on a senior basketball team, but it taught me that I had a lot to learn about life.

In the past few months I've found a deeply personal dimension to cooking, an art I'd always thought of mostly as a great centerpiece to social gatherings. Cooking has become deeply personal, next level for me, a process of self-discovery. What do I like, what have I learned about my past experiences and why does it matter? How have I come by these obsessions, with food flavors, with umami, with black pepper? Is it possible that I am addicted to avocados? Exploring artistic moments that only flavors can convey is like reminiscing on my own steps at a World Series. I am cooking toward a personal legacy, in essence. Where did these creative favorites of my grandfather (now mine)— that mole rojo, his chocolate, chicken broth, Chile ancho and brown sesame dish for the holidays—come from for him? And, even as my past experiences serve as a reminder that I am still a stranger to so many parts of my creative mind, they are evidence again that no one else quite knows me as well, and, thus, what I like, as I do — so who could possibly be a better chef apprentice? This goes without saying that on some nights I don't just fire up a beer battered cod and a rice on the stove on full blast, but essentially, cooking has become a kind of developmental sport for me. 

I no longer play organized sports and never did have a strong passion to pursue professional sports, but I miss the sense of play, the flight and healthy competition that came with the games. I also miss having a sporting platform in which I can prove myself, push myself, and work towards bettering my team and myself. But as I’ve come to realize, you don't need an arena full of fans watching you and cheering to know that you are getting quicker, stronger, better. So maybe cooking has become my new art form, a sport played for my team, for myself and the people I’m cooking for. And, as I've mentioned, I know it runs in my blood, I’m confident in my creative abilities to cook.

Now, back to the subject of cooking as an art and sport! To be a chef requires artwork. Without a doubt, the cook who has attempted to follow a French pastry recipe is aware of all of the patience and skills involved in proper cooking technique. I think it is a sport because when I watch Chefs Table it’s amazing to see the amount of creativity and passion that occurs throughout the hour, just like a boxing match. Two chefs squaring up to see who can execute winning plates. Chefs playing by the rules, working against time, creating dishes that score unique flavors, similar to playing basketball in the NBA Finals or periods in the Stanley Cup. Chef’s like artists and sport coaches have Sous Chefs to assist them, similar to a soccer team with a club manager, assistant manager, goalie, defensemen, and offense men, etc. And similar to an artist teaching his or her apprentices the elements of fine art.

On top of all of that, food as a form of art, is temporal. Created plate by plate, for each customer, and carefully executed in its eye appealing presentation, only to be consumed moments later. Since I graduated from Culinary School, and even before, when I was growing up cooking for my younger and older siblings, I have been called many different things by different people: an artist, an student athlete, a visionary and, at times, a servant.

The one certainty, however, is that as a chef, your work and your life cannot be separated. You become your career or your career never leaves port. It takes a lot of determination, strategy, and skill to impress an audience, just like a gymnast who would jump acrobatically on a beam or an artist creating a masterpiece. By the end, a winner is determined and we are all participants of viewing the main event, only it is on the Food Network and not ESPN.

So, I ask you, can cooking be considered an art, sport or both?