Jumpstarting Your Ruts
June 16th, 2009 Posted in Cooking tips
We’re saying our goodbyes to Amsterdam, surely among the most livable places I’ve ever been. There’s nothing like a month in a new place to “reset” the brain’s habitual patterns, to see the world in a totally new way.
I had quite a bit of free time to read in Amsterdam, which is my definition of pure luxury. Two books, both on the wild and woolly frontiers of contemporary neuroscience, really stood out: Rapt, by Winifred Gallagher, and The Brain That Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge. There is so much interesting news coming out of neuroscience that it makes one’s head spin (or, actually, remap!), but one common finding in both books is the brain’s ability disrupt old patterns by creating new ones, through sheer repetition. This is something that everyone knows intuitively: do something enough times, and it becomes second nature.
Think of your brain as a snowy hill, to use the metaphor of Doidge. There are lots of ways to go down the hill, but the more you follow the same path, the deeper those tracks become, and the stronger the tendency to take the same route every time. Deep ruts make it hard to go any other way after a while. If the rut is a good habit (brushing and flossing before bed, for example, or exercising regularly), that’s good — you reinforce your good habit every day. But if the rut is bad — and you can name your own bad habits here — or it’s something you want to change, it can take a monumental effort to get out of that rut. The answer, says Gallagher and Doidge, is to not try to break old unwanted habits, but simply to form new ones, which will supercede the old ones through sheer use. Plastic brains can consciously form new habits/tracks, and THEY will become dominant over time. It’s a self-enforcing mechanism.
As I was reading I couldn’t help but think about cooking, and ruts. Forming good habits in the kitchen (keeping knives sharp, keeping your work area uncluttered and very clean, using equipment you really like, regular shopping at good markets/having good ingredients around, etc.) makes you want to cook. They are conscious nudges, habits that just make it easier. Cooking, once it becomes enjoyable and stress-free, automatically replaces bad habits like eating heavily processed foods (often because you’re too ravenous to do anything else), outsourcing your palate to industrial food concerns, eating on the run, in the car, grabbing whatever purely as fuel to brute one’s way through the chaotic and perhaps neurotic day.
DECIDING to eat better, to cook better, is, of course, the necessary beginning, but it’s the conscious use of attention to change your daily habits that counts most. It might start with deciding to have something tasty and healthy for breakfast, even if it means getting up a few minutes earlier and retraining yourself to feel hunger in the morning (if, for example, you never eat breakfast). Or it might mean prepping something simple the night before to have for lunch the next day, something wholesome and good. Dinners, too, can be very simple affairs, starting with some good salads and some new good ways to cook vegetables.
It took me a long time for me to figure this out, but once I did, it just kept reinforcing itself. The secret to cooking well is to do it often. And to tweak it to your own particular taste, not that of cookbook authors, tv chefs, or anyone else!
If anyone has good “nudges” that make you want to cook more, please speak up!
~~~
(The photo is a baba ganoush (cooked and then pureed eggplant, with spices) made for us by my friend (and very talented cook) Basile at his lovely home in Amsterdam. It had a sublimely creamy texture, with plenty of smoke from the garnish of smoked paprika. )
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9 Responses to “Jumpstarting Your Ruts”
By
Ed Ward on Jun 17, 2009
I think my big nudge, cooking-wise, was to start going to markets more. I began this in Berlin, where there were two markets, one on Thursday, one on Saturday, that I went to as often as time, money, and weather permitted.
But the nudge that sent me over the edge was here in France, where I just started buying vegetables that I didn’t know what I was going to do with, figuring it out when I got home. The prices are less than the supermarket I was going to automatically, the quality far better, and now I find myself making new stuff with currently-seasonable ingredients. Which is what you’re supposed to do, of course, but forcing myself this way was great.
By
Eric on Jun 17, 2009
Yeah, me too. It’s pretty difficult, though not impossible to cook when you don’t have anything at all. Going to the market regularly becomes a great habit. If nothing else, you’ll want to cook because you won’t want to waste all that food you just bought!
By
Karena on Jun 17, 2009
What finally did it for me a few years ago was a so-so meal at a local chain-ish restaurant that was our default restaurant for nights we worked late. It was my turn to pay for dinner and I gasped when I realized that I was about to hand over $40 for a bowl of run-of-the-mill pasta, an order of roast chicken, and two glasses of wine you could find at Safeway. Even with the high prices at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market, I could buy all the ingredients for the meal we just had, and then some. I haven’t looked back since.
Now my Saturday mornings are about going to the farmers’ market and spending a few hours on advance prep for the week’s meals. I cue up my favorite 80s bands and do stuff like wash some heads of lettuce, cook up a pot of beans, and make pesto. My “nudge” was to invest in some Pyrex containers with lids. I love opening the fridge and seeing everything organized. As a bonus, I take off the lids and I have my mise en place ready to go!
By
rick on Jun 17, 2009
Mine was to get out of a depressive state. I had just been grabbing plastic dishes and eating out of the cookpans. I consciously forced myself to come home, set the table with good stuff and cook full meals for myself. As I got more into it I just expanded the fare and before long I was doing your bit with the farmers’ market. It got to the point that the only things I was buying at the supermarket were paper goods, cleaning stuff and that was about all. Got me over the hump and I haven’t looked back since. I think it is the conscious effort to change that makes it all work if you keep at it for a while.
Now I find that I have even gone back to baking my own bread and it does taste so much better. I started with the artisan bread on 5 minutes a day and it really works.
By
Eric on Jun 17, 2009
I like pyrex for storing stuff in the fridge too — I’m all about seeing everything as clearly as possible. I am having slight difficulty imaging you rocking out to 80s music though Karena!
Rick — I LOVE that book. I make the Portuguese corn bread all the time. In fact, it’s queued up as my next post!
By
Jeff Jacobson on Jun 17, 2009
Eric, your post couldn’t have been more timely. I just moved to Seattle and bought a home. It has a nice-sized kitchen and a good garden. I’ve been telling myself over the past year plus that some better shopping/prepping/cooking habits will make mealtimes more enjoyable. And I’ve gained some headway in this area. However, my old habits didn’t magically disappear upon arrival in a new city and the first home I’ve owned.
Reading your post today, and the great responses from Ed and Karena, remind me to dig in a bit, plan a bit more and enjoy the process more.
I think I’ll take Ed’s advice re: veggies, Karena’s tip re: farmer’s market (I’ll hit one this Sunday) and my own, which is to listen to hilarious author Anne Lamott on audiobook while I cook. This makes the kitchen less of a battlefield and more of a playground.
By
Deana Gunn on Jun 18, 2009
Hi Eric,
Great post! And I’ve enjoyed reading about your time in Amsterdam.
My nudge was a little different. After I had my two kids 1.5 years apart, I felt like I had no time to cook anymore. It felt like a chore and I really got into a rut. I was spending all my time making baby food from scratch and I just didn’t have the energy/desire to cook for the grownups!
BUT, the nudge/inspiration was wanting to instill healthy cooking and eating habits in the kids at a young age, to make sure they grew up in a kitchen with the smells of baking bread and homemade foods. I didn’t want them to think that dinner came from a take-out window.
So we started making cookies together and it just clicked after that. I really rediscovered a love of cooking (often with a few shortcuts, as you know!). Now at age 5 and 6, they love to help cook meals and they even come up with recipes of their own. At age 3, my daughter impressed someone in a store by using the word “ramekin.”
And I think that cooking at home has made them good (not picky) eaters. When we do go out to eat, they ask for sushi (and not chicken nuggets.)
Another source of inspiration is our veggie garden…similarly to the farmers market, there’s nothing like cooking with something just picked.
By
Chef Anahata on Jun 18, 2009
WOW! Great post Eric and congrats to those courageous food turnarounds you have all written and lived so boldly! I’ve been a private chef/catering exec for a L O N G time and I now live in Seattle. Remember, it is human to hit really bumpy, busy patches where you don’t cook so much–so here is a great source of excellent food that many people don’t realize even exists and it is generally not too expensive… your local private chef. If you know you have a busy week coming up–like packing to move, or unpacking at the new house–do a fast search on the internet for a local private chef. You’ll be glad you did. Then, when the storm subsides, you can get back to cooking.
Happy Eating! Chef Anahata
By Jay Dietrich on Jun 23, 2009
Eric – I think you’d enjoy the Brain Science Podcast, or at least the neuroplasticity editions. I haven’t read his book, but I have listened to the interview with Norman Doidge. Each is a 1 hour podcast, they’re transcribed by some poor students, and can be found here:
http://docartemis.com/brainsciencepodcast/
My new “nudge” is the 2 Italian sourdough cultures I’ve recently got going. It will push me towards more flatbreads, pizza napoletana, and my own no knead sourdough bread. Watching them bloom has been part science experiment and part inspiration.