Allie Lorton
Carol Cabrera
Humanities
November 27th. 2017
Fire Made Us
Cooking: “the practice or skill of preparing food by combining, mixing, and heating ingredients.”
Everyone so called “cooks” every day of their lives. But using fire in cooking is what truly made cooking, “cooking”. In Cooked, a documentary by Michael Pollan, multiple National Geographic articles written by Nicholas Mott and another by Rebecca Rupp, and an article by sciencemag.org written by Sarah C. P. Williams all discuss the use of fire in cooking and why it is so important to everyone. Fire is the most important element in cooking because it evolved us into modern humans, inspired current vessels we cook with today, and it gives everyone an opportunity to cook and hunt their food.
Fire is the most important element in cooking because it evolved us into humans. In Michael Pollan’s “Cooked” documentary, he said that we (humans) are the only species that cook with fire. Since we learned to cook with fire, it made the food easier to digest which gave us our current digestive system. Also, it made the food easier and quicker to chew. Additionally, in an article by National Geographic in paragraph one it says, “According to a new study, a surge in human brain size that occurred roughly 1.8 million years ago can be directly linked to the innovation of cooking.” This shows how since humans were the first to cook with fire, that innovation was linked to our brains doubling in size, while other species were still spending 10 hours of their day just chewing their food. Cooking with fire changed the way we live our lives, interact with our food, and it made us humans and separated our species from others.
Cooking with fire started the trend of fireplaces and ovens, which we use today. In a National Geographic article about the history of cooking with fire, it says, “By the Paleolithic era, 200,000 to 40,000 years ago, we were building primitive hearths in the form of a handful of stones in a circle—the sort kids today are taught to build in summer camp--and for the next many millennia such hearths, in various permutations, were the focal points of human homes. Our word focus—meaning the point at which all things come together—comes from the Latin for fireplace.” This shows how even 200,000 years ago they began to inspire our current methods to trap heat and cook with fire. Also, kids are still practicing making these hearths and for a while things like it were in almost every home. Cooking with fire started the trend of fireplaces and ovens for us to cook with, which are things in every home today that everyone uses.
Fire gives people without access to a traditional oven an opportunity to still cook their foods, so they don’t have to eat them raw. In an article by sciencemag.org about the Martu people of Australia who were in Michael Pollan’s documentary, “Cooked”, it said, “ ...Martu
people, who live as hunter-gatherers in the deserts of Western Australia. Forty percent of the
food they eat off the land comes from sand monitor lizards (Varanus gouldii), beige reptiles that can span 140 centimeters and weigh up to 6 kilograms. To hunt the creatures, which live in underground burrows, the Martu burn patches of underbrush so they can spot fresh holes and then use sticks to force the lizards out. Scientists know that such small, controlled fires can be good for the environment.” This shows how while they are hunting on their land they use fire to not only find the animals, but to also cook them. It has multiple purposes and is the tool that allows them to hunt and cook their food. Fire helps current civilization find and cook their food, even if they don’t have a home with an oven in it that they cook in every day.
Fire is the element in cooking that is the most universal and usable to all. Fire inspired what some use to cook their food such as ovens, and others need to create it every day. No matter which you are, they are still both using fire to cook. You could be in the top 1% of socio-economics, or bottom 1%, but cooking with fire is the thing that truly connects us. On the other side of the planet, you can always know someone is cooking with fire. It made us who we are, gave us the tools we use today to cook, and helps and connects us all. Cooking with fire truly made us.
Works Cited
Rupp, Rebecca. “A Brief History of Cooking With Fire.” The Plate, National Geographic, 2 Sept. 2015, theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/02/a-brief-history-of-cooking-with-fire/.
Mott, Nicholas. “What Makes Us Human? Cooking, Study Says.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 26 Oct. 2012, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121026-human-cooking-evolution-raw-food-health-science/?_ga=2.58439402.1519287203.1512082234-918478324.1512082227
Williams, Sarah C. P. “When the Land Burns, Lizards Thrive.” Science | AAAS, Science Mag, 22 Oct. 2013, www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/10/when-land-burns-lizards-thrive.
Pollan, Michael. Cooked. Cooked, Michael Pollan, 2016, www.netflix.com/title/80022456.
Carol Cabrera
Humanities
November 27th. 2017
Fire Made Us
Cooking: “the practice or skill of preparing food by combining, mixing, and heating ingredients.”
Everyone so called “cooks” every day of their lives. But using fire in cooking is what truly made cooking, “cooking”. In Cooked, a documentary by Michael Pollan, multiple National Geographic articles written by Nicholas Mott and another by Rebecca Rupp, and an article by sciencemag.org written by Sarah C. P. Williams all discuss the use of fire in cooking and why it is so important to everyone. Fire is the most important element in cooking because it evolved us into modern humans, inspired current vessels we cook with today, and it gives everyone an opportunity to cook and hunt their food.
Fire is the most important element in cooking because it evolved us into humans. In Michael Pollan’s “Cooked” documentary, he said that we (humans) are the only species that cook with fire. Since we learned to cook with fire, it made the food easier to digest which gave us our current digestive system. Also, it made the food easier and quicker to chew. Additionally, in an article by National Geographic in paragraph one it says, “According to a new study, a surge in human brain size that occurred roughly 1.8 million years ago can be directly linked to the innovation of cooking.” This shows how since humans were the first to cook with fire, that innovation was linked to our brains doubling in size, while other species were still spending 10 hours of their day just chewing their food. Cooking with fire changed the way we live our lives, interact with our food, and it made us humans and separated our species from others.
Cooking with fire started the trend of fireplaces and ovens, which we use today. In a National Geographic article about the history of cooking with fire, it says, “By the Paleolithic era, 200,000 to 40,000 years ago, we were building primitive hearths in the form of a handful of stones in a circle—the sort kids today are taught to build in summer camp--and for the next many millennia such hearths, in various permutations, were the focal points of human homes. Our word focus—meaning the point at which all things come together—comes from the Latin for fireplace.” This shows how even 200,000 years ago they began to inspire our current methods to trap heat and cook with fire. Also, kids are still practicing making these hearths and for a while things like it were in almost every home. Cooking with fire started the trend of fireplaces and ovens for us to cook with, which are things in every home today that everyone uses.
Fire gives people without access to a traditional oven an opportunity to still cook their foods, so they don’t have to eat them raw. In an article by sciencemag.org about the Martu people of Australia who were in Michael Pollan’s documentary, “Cooked”, it said, “ ...Martu
people, who live as hunter-gatherers in the deserts of Western Australia. Forty percent of the
food they eat off the land comes from sand monitor lizards (Varanus gouldii), beige reptiles that can span 140 centimeters and weigh up to 6 kilograms. To hunt the creatures, which live in underground burrows, the Martu burn patches of underbrush so they can spot fresh holes and then use sticks to force the lizards out. Scientists know that such small, controlled fires can be good for the environment.” This shows how while they are hunting on their land they use fire to not only find the animals, but to also cook them. It has multiple purposes and is the tool that allows them to hunt and cook their food. Fire helps current civilization find and cook their food, even if they don’t have a home with an oven in it that they cook in every day.
Fire is the element in cooking that is the most universal and usable to all. Fire inspired what some use to cook their food such as ovens, and others need to create it every day. No matter which you are, they are still both using fire to cook. You could be in the top 1% of socio-economics, or bottom 1%, but cooking with fire is the thing that truly connects us. On the other side of the planet, you can always know someone is cooking with fire. It made us who we are, gave us the tools we use today to cook, and helps and connects us all. Cooking with fire truly made us.
Works Cited
Rupp, Rebecca. “A Brief History of Cooking With Fire.” The Plate, National Geographic, 2 Sept. 2015, theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/02/a-brief-history-of-cooking-with-fire/.
Mott, Nicholas. “What Makes Us Human? Cooking, Study Says.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 26 Oct. 2012, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121026-human-cooking-evolution-raw-food-health-science/?_ga=2.58439402.1519287203.1512082234-918478324.1512082227
Williams, Sarah C. P. “When the Land Burns, Lizards Thrive.” Science | AAAS, Science Mag, 22 Oct. 2013, www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/10/when-land-burns-lizards-thrive.
Pollan, Michael. Cooked. Cooked, Michael Pollan, 2016, www.netflix.com/title/80022456.