The Tenth Muse

I recently finished The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith Jones. She is a famous cookbook publisher who is most well-known for publishing then-unknown Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I thought her memoirs were beautiful (and, side note, apparently food writing is my new favorite genre???) and her reflection of the everyday significance of cooking in particular stuck with me and I wanted to share it with you.

He [her husband] knew that I have always felt that the preparation of food is one of the most joyous and inwardly satisfying of all activities that we human beings are peculiarly privileged to indulge in daily. Other creatures receive food simply as fodder. But we take the raw materials of the earth and work with them--touch them, manipulate them, taste them, glory in their heady smells and colors, and then, through a bit of alchemy, transform them into delicious creations. Cooking demands attention, patience, and, above all, respect. It is a way of worship, a way of giving thanks.

I tend to agree.