Cooking as a Love Language

Those who have seen Ratatouille know that cooking for someone is the closest we can come to expressing love in a physical form. Sure, we all have the classic love languages, like acts of service, gift giving or quality time, but this article is a petition to classify cooking as the most superior love language.

Cooking for someone is the best example of how love and adoration manifest into action. It is an act of service and a way to give the most universal gift, rolled into one. The universally acclaimed secret ingredient to making good food is, in fact, love. And also, salt. Even when I am not around my loved ones, the only way I can express how much I care is by having food delivered to them. 

Giving and receiving food is the warmest thing we can feel, as food has always been associated with familiarity and comfort. Whether it was a kind stranger giving a warm meal to a wanderer, someone feeding their family and friends, or even helping out at community meals, the act of spreading comfort through food has been around for almost as long as we have inhabited this planet.

Whether it was due to the fact that mom used to make me my favourite food whenever I was sick, or maybe because I went to culinary school and grew to love food, it is truly the best gift anyone can give. Romanticising food is one of the things that makes me believe in true love. Why else would so many people want to become chefs, and why so many people always meet their friends to catch up over a meal? Cooking for people, cooking with people, breaking bread together, it’s all a sign of love and devotion. 

It’s not just about the act itself, but the effort that goes behind it. Spending that time and making the food from scratch reminds us how much someone actually cares about us, how they randomly think of us when they are making our favourite food and leave us extras, just because they know we like it. Some of my favourite recipes to this day are dishes that I have picked up from family and friends. Maybe I make ramen in a way my best friend used to, or maybe I make a dish in a certain way because my family told me to. They are all memories that I carry with me, one meal at a time. Chef Gusto said that "Anyone can cook", and I think I have to agree, because if anyone can love, they can cook.