While it’s true that each culture is unique, there are certain characteristics that are common to the human experience, no matter the continent, country, or people group you hail from. Food is one of those commonalities. All people are linked through food, and virtually every culture engages in some form of outdoor cooking. A neat perk of owning an outdoor kitchen is that it presents you with the exciting opportunity to build ties with humans across the globe, and that’s the focus of today’s post. So sit back, read on, and enjoy a quick trip around the world!
Outdoor kitchens can help you connect more deeply with your cultural heritage.
Even if your family has lived in Texas for generations, at some point in the past, it’s more than likely that some of your ancestors immigrated from other parts of the world. After all, America is famous for being a cultural melting pot. Some of us were lucky enough to grow up in families who were proud of their heritage and eager to share it with each new generation. Others of us have needed to do a little digging to discover our origin stories. As a society, we have become more curious about our forefathers in recent years. Writing for Psychology Today, Libby Copeland explains that this desire to know more about our family histories stems out of the search for what is true and authentic, the need to better understand ourselves and to connect more deeply with those who have gone before us.*
But some of us may have no idea who our ancestors were. Maybe you haven’t been interested in your genealogy up to this point, but it is something that you’d like to learn more about in the future. Whatever your situation, because food is so central to familial stories and traditions, your outdoor kitchen can give you a pathway to connect with your cultural heritage by providing you with the opportunity to cook food that plays a unique role in your family history. This may look like preparing vintage family recipes that have been enjoyed and passed down for generations. Alternatively, it may look like searching the internet for your ancestors’ countries of origin and finding interesting dishes to try. The bottom line is that learning about and cooking these special foods allows you to build deeper ties with those who have come before you and to carry on their legacy through dishes prepared and enjoyed with your family today.
Outdoor cooking helps you engage with a global community.
Cooking and eating together doesn’t just allow us to form deeper bonds within our families, but it also facilitates cross-cultural relationships. Food is essential for our survival, and it’s a key component of many of the most meaningful events in society, regardless of what part of the world you live in. Learning about international cuisines and various methods of cooking used around the world gives you the unique opportunity to build relationships with people from cultures different from your own. It transcends language and cultural barriers and gives you a peek into what life is like in other countries. There are multiple benefits to this.
You can learn a lot from the food other cultures eat and how they prepare it.
This acquired knowledge is interesting in and of itself, but it can also serve a very practical purpose. We all face distinctive challenges related to available resources, personal incomes, local climate, etc. But we humans are resourceful and creative! We adapt and solve problems in both pragmatic and out-of-the-box ways. Many people around the world cook outdoors out of necessity. Perhaps they live in small homes with little to no access to electricity. Though you may not be facing those particular situations, you can still learn from those who do, and that information can benefit you. See some of our previous posts for how cooking and eating outdoors more frequently can lower your electric bills and creatively expand the square footage of your home!
For some people, cooking outside just makes more sense. For example, in Southeast Asia, many families have either full or partial outdoor kitchens. In a hot, tropical climate, these outdoor cooking spaces allow individuals to keep extra heat out of their homes. They have the added benefit of helping the inside of homes stay clean. Yucky smells, grime from cooking oils, and other by-products of cooking are confined to the outside, while unwanted pests and critters that are attracted to food and garbage are kept out of the home as well.
You may discover commonalities as you explore different cuisines.
There are forms of outdoor cooking that extend across all societies. For example, grilling is a popular method for preparing food in many countries. It takes a variety of forms, is central to iconic international dishes, and is often utilized to mark special social occasions and celebrations. Russians enjoy a dish known as shashlik, similar to a shish kabob. This popular food is commonly prepared over a portable grill and is often found at picnics and other outdoor communal gatherings. Now that sounds familiar, doesn’t it? And it’s a point of connection with a culture that you probably didn’t know you had!
At the same time, you can also grow to appreciate and celebrate cultural differences.
Other methods of preparing food outdoors are found only in particular countries or cultures. Moroccan tagines are a great example. Writing for Food Network, Nargisse Benkabbou explains that a tagine is both a dish and a cooking method. It was developed by the Berbers and employs the use of a special earthenware cooking vessel shaped like a cone. The distinctive shape of the vessel traps moisture while allowing the food inside to be slowly cooked to perfection. Since its original users were nomads, the tagine is portable and was originally used over either fire or coals.**
Another culturally distinct way of preparing food is found in Peru. Ina Yang provides insight into an ancient Incan outdoor cooking technique known as pachamanca. In her fascinating article for NPR, she describes how modern-day Peruvians continue to utilize pachamanca, cooking their food by burying it in a pit with hot volcanic rocks. This is a special method of cooking, often used to feed groups during social gatherings.***
As we’ve seen, outdoor kitchens have the power to transport you beyond your backyard, allowing you to travel around the world through the food that you cook and eat. Along the way, you can connect more deeply with your own cultural heritage and with people from other nations, learn from the ingenuity of others, and grow in creativity as you try new cuisines and techniques for preparing food. If you love to travel, experience international foods, or experiment with different cooking methods, Worthy Outdoors is excited and ready to help you conceptualize and execute an outdoor kitchen that can act as your own personal window to the world.
