Cooking as a Love Language

I don't cook for Instagram. I cook because food is the most honest way I know to say "I see you."

This is not a recipe post. Or — it's not only a recipe post. It's an attempt to articulate something I've been carrying for a long time: that cooking for someone is one of the most direct expressions of care that I know how to make.

On attention

To cook well for someone, you have to know them. Not their Instagram, their dietary restrictions. You have to know what they need when they are tired. What flavours make them feel held.

This kind of knowing requires attention. And attention, I think, is the foundation of love — any kind of love.

The kitchen as studio

I treat my kitchen like a studio. The same way I approach a painting — with intention, with the willingness to fail, with a commitment to the material in front of me.

The result is sometimes beautiful. Sometimes it's dinner. Both are fine.