My Obsession With Cooking

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I seem to have developed an irrational obsession with cooking.

Cooking is something I've always enjoyed a great deal, I consider myself to be fairly good at it, I used to find it an excellent way to relax and unwind after a hard day at work, and there's nothing I love more than cooking for other people, especially my partner. Nothing wrong with any of that, I know. However, I am slightly concerned that cooking is now becoming an obsession for me. This obsession sometimes even causes 'meltdowns'.

Because I work long hours and often get home quite late, my partner tends to do most of the cooking. Even though I fully understand why my partner is in charge of the cooking and accept that it's the most realistic option for us, I still get quite grumpy if I've not cooked for while.

But that's just the start of it. Whenever I do cook (when I have a day off or something like that), I absolutely hate people helping or giving advice or criticism, even if the advice/criticism is perfectly justified. I also take far too much time over it than I need to making sure everything looks neat and 'perfect', so whoever I am cooking for ends up having to wait a long time to eat.

For a long time while I was growing up, I suffered with quite severe low self-esteem (I still do to a certain extent) and I think I may have used cooking as a way of feeling better about myself. It was something I knew I was good at, people always seemed to enjoy my food, so it became my way of expressing myself. I know that what I'm about to say sounds extremely self-centred, but it slightly annoys me that my partner is as good at cooking as me (if not better); I start to think that it no longer matters I'm good at cooking which I know is completely irrational and not at all the case, but I still get these ridiculous thoughts at times. I guess I just need to accept that cooking is not the only thing I'm good at, and even if it were, other people are allowed to be good at it too. I should learn to enjoy cooking for what it is, not because it makes me feel good about myself.

Does anyone else have any 'obsessions' like this? I would love to hear about your experiences, and how your loved ones dealt with them.

I'm obsessed with cooking.

I make baked goods all the time since its easier for people to grab and go. I just like collecting recipes and cooking. And trying new seasonings.

I kind of have to cook or else, I'd go crazy without cooking.

Just like writing. I have an obsession with writing. I love to write

I think cooking is a good obsession to have.

I think you can ease up on yourself. Feeling a little competitive about one's abilities is fine, in my opinion. And if it makes you feel good about yourself, there's nothing wrong with that either.

I wish I had that obsession. Or at least liked to cook a variety of meals.

Thought I'd revive this thread right here...

I'm obsessed with making things, taking them apart, looking at how they're made, and putting them back together.

Through accident upon accident, this led me to a career in restaurants. I like cooking and baking the best, and I think some parts of these jobs are well suited to AS: lots of details to pay attention to, lots of nonverbal sense usage (taste, smell, touch). Plus it's helped my coordination quite a lot: When I was about 28, I finally learned how to throw and catch, just from tossing stuff in the garbage and tossing backup ingredients to other cooks.

The flip side is that restaurant social dynamics can be intensely awful ... and wanting to do things honestly and correctly can put you at odds with management. So I've found it very hard to hold down a job for more than 1 1/2 yrs at a time.

A lot of professional cooks (most of them) are very aggressive, which is hurtful. But if you can find a small place where you are the only cook on shift at the time, I think this job is perfect for an AS. Plus you are always always learning something new. I love reading about food science, especially. Looking at electron microscope photos of dough capturing yeast gasses, or meant in varying stages of doneness; this is way more interesting than reading the encyclopedia was when I was a kid.

Cooking and gastronomi has become a great interest to me as well. I have bought a lot of books with recipes and I love to investigate what people other places on earth eat. The good thing about having cooking as an interest is that a lot of people can relate to it, so you can get to talk about it. I can get a little intense when discussing the specifics of cooking - I get annoyed when people say something wrong about it. But besides that, it helps me to have a subject when I talk to others.

Hi there
I understand you completely, I could have writen your post myself. I only have one thing to add: you say it takes too long for you to cook, so people end up really hungry waiting. I'm guilty as well, I find cooking really exciting and don't want to rush. Could you try cooking things that are done one at a time, so you and others eat as you cook? I'm having trouble coming up with ideas, but basically finger food. Tempura... Sushi... Burgers... *shrug!*

Wish I had a friend who was ethusiastic about cooking as you; I'd be happy to get together and trade cooking weekends

I am becoming very obsessed with cooking lately. Problem is anything more complex than ramen is a disaster. I even set off my smoke alarms from time to time. And that's bad when your hearing is hypersensitive.