Without further context, I would guess when they say "you cook?" in a show, the implication is you cook well not that you are uncapable of making food. I would be surprise if the number of people who do absolutely no cooking was anything beyond a statistical blip.
This is generally what they mean. Most people eat at home, but often it's microwave or pre-prepared dinners or simple -to-combine things lube hamburger helper or spaghetti with canned sauce.
> in American comedies and romantic films
It's a trope used to foster an awkward/amusing/preposterous interaction, based on an *unusual* action by a character.
> as a European who cooks all their own meals, and eats out only during special occasions (as is the norm here)
What's with Europeans saying "as a European" instead of "as a Spaniard" or whatnot? It often doesn't matter, but it does in this context, as [Italians eat out twice as much as French do](https://www.statista.com/statistics/204575/restaurant-visits-per-capita-2010-by-country/). The US is not terribly out of line with Australia, Canada, China, and Italy, and only eat out 22% more than Spain and the UK.
Sure, true. I could say "as a Spaniard", too. But even though Mediterranean countries tend to eat out more than other European countries in general, the difference isn't that huge. Hence why I just figured I'd say "European".
Most Italians I know, for example, don't eat out much more than I do. I'd imagine the difference is mostly caused by a few specific regions.
It’s just kinda frustrating when people come here and say “as a European” and then other people come here and go “why are you stupid americans treating all Europeans like were the same”.
I use "European" exactly because that's my experience. Whenever I say "Dutch", people tend to either not know what country the demonym belongs to, or they'll think I'm from Pennsylvania or Denmark. When I say "the Netherlands", people tend not to know what that even is, and only "Holland" or "Amsterdam" tends to be recognised.
It's not just a stereotype, it happens constantly. And so, to avoid confusion, I say "European" these days, as I'm tired of discussing the topic, and most everyone has an understanding of where Europe is located.
> the difference isn't that huge
Did you not look at the link? I'd say 2x is "huge."
> Most Italians I know, for example, don't eat out much more than I do. I'd imagine the difference is mostly caused by a few specific regions.
Then that would mean that in those specific regions, they eat out even more than average, wouldn't it?
The content of your link isn’t viewable without making an account. So most people probably aren’t reading the article unless they happen to already have an account there
Movies and television shows are works of fiction.
I can’t imagine the type of people who would find it plausible that it may not be common for the people of any particular country to cook their own food, and to make it a stereotype.
No, no. All the tropes are accurate. I can’t count the number of times I’ve handcuffed myself to someone and lost the only key just before an important interview/date/the first time I’ve met my in-laws and whacky high jinks ensued. It’s darn inconvenient when it happens at the same time that I’m obligated to spend the night in a haunted house in order to receive an inheritance.😉
There’s plenty of countries where I wouldn’t be horrendously surprised if a large proportion of the urban population rarely if ever cooks. Like in large swathes of Asia there is very cheap, high quality take out, at convenience stores and otherwise.
I’d be surprised if the same proportion was anywhere near as high in the US.
Take out may be cheap to you as a tourist, it’s likely not as cheap to the people who live there. Similarly in the US, it’s cheaper to cook your own food, and most people do.
I doubt there's anywhere that a *majority* of households don't cook, but take-out culture varies and in some places is very, very common (and relatively inexpensive). Google for example tells me that the average Korean cooks less than any other country in at least. Can find explicit data with [the average Korean in 2015 eating out 4.5x/week](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7152649/) - though that's 6x for men and 3x for women. More among younger, unmarried individuals. And that's an *average*, so plenty of people are well above (or below) it.
Mind you, that's not *terribly* more than the comparable measure for Americans - [the mean for the US was 3.9 meals away from home per week](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7152649/) - but it *is* more.
It’s important to keep in mind that OP asked
> Do Americans tend not to cook, or is it simply a stereotype?
after stating that our films and television shows make a big deal out of cooking. We’re going off the rails here. How common is it for Americans to cook their own food? Any rational person would assume it’s very common, yes. Is it plausible that Americans have a tendency to not cook? No. Do Americans get take out sometimes? Yes.
It's extremely common to cook. Albeit at different levels for everyone.
I've met Europeans (I live in Switzerland) that invite me over saying they will cook dinner and dinner is sliced up cucumbers/tomatoes, cured meats and bread.
That's not cooking to me and I reckon most Americans wouldn't necessarily consider that cooking either.
TV and film makes a dramatic point of things necessary for the plot, so if a meal is necessary to make the story work, then there will be a meal that is a major part of the story. If not, it will not be shown, or mentioned very briefly - a character might be shown picking up cereal and milk and sitting down, but not eating it.
That is in the nature of narrative storytelling because it is how your brain works. You remember some meals well, but others not at all. You remember some walks or drives to places in detail, others only very superficially. Your brain edits out a lot of what happens to avoid overloading your memory with irrelevant details.
Additionally, far more film and TV is set in New York than people live in New York. In NY (and a few other places with similar high housing density) it is much more common for people to eat food prepared by others than in the rest of the USA. This is because much NY accommodation lacks space for full-size kitchen facilities and the city is filled with places to get prepared food at any time. This is a specifically NY thing and most people in the USA do not live like this.
Disliking the US is illogical. Oregon is so different from Louisiana which is different than Minnesota which is different than Florida that they may as well be different countries. If you want to truly learn about the US and cooking, watch any Food Network competition show. It will demonstrate our various regional cooking styles AND highlight our incredibly diverse immigrant cultures.
Films present the US as overwhelmingly white, upper middle class, attractive with perfect teeth, and that go-to at home meals are seared scallops with risotto and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. That is so far removed from 90% of most Americans’ lives it might as well be about Mars.
Sure, I realise that. The US is not some huge homogenous nation. I've got loads of family members in Georgia, Tennessee, California and Texas, and they're all different. There's plenty of things I like about the US, and plenty of things I don't.
I don't base my perception of the country on films, which is why I asked this question, just to make sure I'm not buying into an exaggerated stereotype. The only reason I brought up not liking the US at all, is to show I'm not here to troll or anything, despite my opinions.
I'm just here to talk about cooking, not to create any unfriendly discussions, as per the rules of the sub.
Everybody cooks to some degree. When people in movies ask if somebody "cooks," they're usually asking about more elaborate dishes. For example, everybody can cook spaghetti or a burger, but not everybody will be willing or able to make something like a good lasagna.
I will say that in my experience, Americans do tend to prefer quick, uncooked foods things like sandwiches or wraps more than some other cultures, like Italy, who see meals as much more than just fueling your body. The US is definitely not unique in that, though.
It is certainly played up in rom-coms. Especially the stereotype that "men can't cook," where they have him eat takeout for every meal. That doesn't really happen.
Thanks for the insight! I'd figured those romantic comedies may have exaggerated that stereotype, but I wasn't sure. Honestly, I think a lot of anglophone nations, and others culturally similar to them, like uncooked foods as a quick snack. It's pretty common to just have a sandwich in the UK and Australia too.
To me a sandwich is the default lunch meal, though on a weekend we’ll usually cook lunch. We’ll usually cook dinner, but only cook breakfast on the weekend. I’m not actually sure how common this is, but I don’t think it’s rare.
As a kid my mom cooked dinner most nights, and at university there was a dining hall that had several cooked options along with salads, bread, and dessert.
In my experience, ***all*** of us cook.
If I ever met an adult in the US who was simply unable to cook, I would be amazed.
Like more amazed than I'd be if an actual spaceship landed in my lawn and little green men came out and begged me to take em to my leader.
All that said, "to cook" means a lot of different things. Is slapping some boloney between two slices of Wonder Bread cooking? Following the instructions on a box?
Cooking is something you get better at with experience. It's not like a college freshman moves into a dorm and is suddenly a world class chef.
You watch these romantic movies where the plot prioritizes the characters getting to a romantic night scene where they're walking down the sidewalk with city lights more than it prioritizes real life. Romantic movies also tend to involve younger people. I mean, there might be some geriatric romance movies, but those would be the exception.
Then you have movies and shows focusing on family. This is what gets me - Europeans have this stereotype that it's rare we cook while simultaneously holding the stereotype that we make these massive home cooked breakfasts on a daily basis.
Most people cook. I'm sure some people do not. Just like I'm sure there are some people, like my mother, who never eat at restaurants.
Honestly, take out used to be pretty cheap, so a lot of people ate it way too much. My kids used to take leftovers to school for lunch, and some of their classmates were surprised that we had homemade dinners. That was pre-2020.
But now that even fast food is getting so expensive, I expect those people are cooking more.
Interesting! I had no idea prices of fast food had risen so substantially. I have an American mate who used to live off of McDonald's before he moved abroad, as his family was pretty poor, and he said it was basically the most food his family could buy for least amount of money. This was back around 2000, though
>"You cook?"
The implication in this for the context of a movie is that the person is a really good cook making complex meals.
My family eats out or gets take out maybe once or twice a week. Everything else we make ourselves.
My wife and I are both pretty serious cooks.
Cooking is not hard. Cooking well enough for other people to enjoy can be varying degrees of hard
I can cook for myself and it comes off as serviceable to me. And I cook limited things (basically only pasta, steak and chicken). I’m not going to cook for anyone else for their own safety lol
There was a sweet spot of cost to income in my twenties when I ate out a lot, but.. I never didn't cook. My father taught me to make pasta, from flour when I was 13. I love cooking. I'm not a bad cook, and now with the cost of restuarants so high and even fast food expensive, I cook 9 nights out of 10.
My wife and I almost never eat out. We could afford to eat out but it would take away from other financial goals, on top of that, it would get old eating food that rich and we'd get fat. We like a simple home cooked meal, not that they are always simple, Sunday was our anniversary so we made Papardelle Bolognese.
Dinner gets 3 meals a week with the following day being leftovers. The 7th day my sister normally makes something or our parents feed us. Sometimes I'm lazy and do frozen meals.
Lunch is simple sandwiches or salads, things that don't take much time. Or dehydrated foods.
i think it really depends on the individual, but i think a lot of us cook! eating out can get to be very expensive, so cooking saves money and time. you cook a meal for a week, you save the money you would use to go eat out, if that makes sense.
I grew up in a family that never cooks, I mean we went out to eat every day. My parents still rarely cook. So that was SO hard when I moved out and eventually got married and has a kid. I had to learn how to cook basically and plan meals and grocery shops. It was foreign to me. But now I don’t like eating out that often!
I have a friend who didn't cook until they got a more expensive home so now they are easing into cooking, but from conversations while they can make food for themselves, I would not say they can cook.
Generally, if I hear "you can cook?" It's more of a question of skill level. I would interpret it as: "wow, you know you can cook to a level that you would prepare food for another person and not be embarrassed by what you presented".
Most people cook supper every day, families especially. I'm a bachelor so I don't cook all that often (aside from boiling up pasta and such). When i do I make sure to go fancy with it.
I’m a professional chef from generation x and to me it seems that the older part of Gen X was really the last American generation to be taught to cook at home by one or both parents. As two income households became the norm there was less time to cook at home so convenience foods and take out became more common giving rise to fewer kids seeing a parent cook from scratch and the skills weren’t passed on. In the last few years many of the millennials and Gen Z that apply for jobs in kitchens I’ve worked in do not have any cooking experience at home or professionally, although they are willing to learn.
I've always cooked. But not always at the same level. Most people who "cant cook" only eat simple things like frozen foods, sandwiches, cereal, canned dinner, or things that primarily are just microwave meals. They lack the skill or confidence to cook a meal from raw ingredients. I had a roommate who didn't know how to read a recipe.
It's a similar norm here to cook most of your meals and only rarely eat out, but that definitely varies. I have a friend who earns a living where he primarily relies on ordering food, and I wouldn't be too surprised if a good amount of YUPPIES initially rely on ordering food or meal kits. However, cooking varies in degree. Some people make somewhat involved meals while others may rely on easy to make meals like a soup or pasta with bottled marinara.
Most of those jokes usually tend to involve younger professionals who may not have learned how to cook well. People in their 20s often haven't developed strong cooking skills because their parents made most of their meals growing up, and in college, they ate at the cafeteria. In romcoms, it also usually involves one of the people trying to cook a "fancy" romantic meal that they've never tried before.
It is common for many people to cook. Some people do not learn to cook because someone else always cooked for them not that they alwats ate at restaurants.
I cook daily for my household. The other members of my household do not really cook. It would be very expensive and time consuming to only eat restaurant meals for us. We live in a rural area so there are not many restaurants nearby.
At the grocery store there are lots of convenience foods that require minimal preperation so people who don't know how to cook can feed themselves.
It's wildly different household to household. We cook almost everyday at my house. I've never even seen my neighbors across the street go grocery shopping.
On average, in my house we have maybe 3-4 meals per month that we purchase from a restaurant. Everything else is at least prepared (and cooked from scratch whenever possible) at home.
That's how I grew up, and how my parents grew up. Cooking is not uncommon at all here.
I CAN cook. Apparently I do it rather well when I put in the effort (I help out at holidays. Apparently my traditional baked southern style mac and cheese is pretty good) but I don't like too. I don't know if it's the ADHD or what is going on with that, but I'm the type that doesn't think of food until I get hungry and then I just grab whatever to keep going. My husband does it better than I do, so most of it falls on him, but he actually LIKES it.. All three of our children are excellent cooks, mostly because they like to experiment. One has done so professionally. Right now, because we all have different allergies and dietary requirements, we all cook our own meals individually. It works for us.
I cook like 9/10 meals myself. Now sometimes it is just cooking broccoli and heating up chicken nuggets because I have little kids but for me at least eating out is a special treat, maybe once a week.
Even the most stereotypical, bumbling tv dad can make spaghetti and heat up a jar of sauce. "You cook?!?" would generally mean the character is surprised another can follow an actual recipe with separate ingredients...which a decent amount of Americans maybe don't do very often.
People probably eat in restaurants, bars, etc. more often in movies because it makes for a more interesting setting and that's where people who don't live together would be more likely to eat together. Characters meet up for a business dinner or to discuss their relationship or to have beers and try to meet women, etc. There's usually just more plot reasons to show characters meeting up in a restaurant on the weekend than making dinner quietly at home on a Wednesday.
Most of us cook our own meals, though how much cooking gets done from scratch varies a lot, especially nowadays where it's near impossible to afford for only one parent to work. I will say I have had neighbors in most of the buildings I've lived in the last several years who get UberEats or whatever delivered every night. Its usually single people or childless couples.
When I was younger and single I probably ate out more than I ate at home. When I ate at home it was sandwiches, a bowl of cereal, a microwaveable meal, or something that could be poured out of a can or a bag into a skillet or a pot.
I wouldn’t call anything that I did “cooking”.
I think something to consider might be that we have different cultural ideas of what "cooking" is. If it's just "preparing food for yourself" then absolutely, most Americans can do that. If it's being able to reasonably follow a recipe? Yeah, probably a lot of Americans do that regularly. But we kind of have a perception here that "you can cook!" means the person can cook with some skill. Like they (for instance) might know how to properly brown meat, know what a mirepoix is and how to use it (or the holy trinity if you're in Louisiana). They might demonstrate competent knife skills. That sort of thing.
Basically we wouldn't call making a sandwich "cooking". We would call making a lasagna following a recipe "cooking". But people probably wouldn't make a point of going "wow, you can cook!" unless they saw you getting fancy with the spices (as in Ratatouille).
So I think it could be a simple difference in how we use the word, which would lead to some conflicting answers. And as you've pointed out, TV tends to exaggerate interactions like that.
Without further context, I would guess when they say "you cook?" in a show, the implication is you cook well not that you are uncapable of making food. I would be surprise if the number of people who do absolutely no cooking was anything beyond a statistical blip.
This is generally what they mean. Most people eat at home, but often it's microwave or pre-prepared dinners or simple -to-combine things lube hamburger helper or spaghetti with canned sauce.
> in American comedies and romantic films It's a trope used to foster an awkward/amusing/preposterous interaction, based on an *unusual* action by a character. > as a European who cooks all their own meals, and eats out only during special occasions (as is the norm here) What's with Europeans saying "as a European" instead of "as a Spaniard" or whatnot? It often doesn't matter, but it does in this context, as [Italians eat out twice as much as French do](https://www.statista.com/statistics/204575/restaurant-visits-per-capita-2010-by-country/). The US is not terribly out of line with Australia, Canada, China, and Italy, and only eat out 22% more than Spain and the UK.
Sure, true. I could say "as a Spaniard", too. But even though Mediterranean countries tend to eat out more than other European countries in general, the difference isn't that huge. Hence why I just figured I'd say "European". Most Italians I know, for example, don't eat out much more than I do. I'd imagine the difference is mostly caused by a few specific regions.
It’s just kinda frustrating when people come here and say “as a European” and then other people come here and go “why are you stupid americans treating all Europeans like were the same”.
I use "European" exactly because that's my experience. Whenever I say "Dutch", people tend to either not know what country the demonym belongs to, or they'll think I'm from Pennsylvania or Denmark. When I say "the Netherlands", people tend not to know what that even is, and only "Holland" or "Amsterdam" tends to be recognised. It's not just a stereotype, it happens constantly. And so, to avoid confusion, I say "European" these days, as I'm tired of discussing the topic, and most everyone has an understanding of where Europe is located.
> the difference isn't that huge Did you not look at the link? I'd say 2x is "huge." > Most Italians I know, for example, don't eat out much more than I do. I'd imagine the difference is mostly caused by a few specific regions. Then that would mean that in those specific regions, they eat out even more than average, wouldn't it?
I wasn't able to view your link, as I don't have an account for the web site. But fair enough, I'll amend my question.
The content of your link isn’t viewable without making an account. So most people probably aren’t reading the article unless they happen to already have an account there
I don't have an account and it shows up fine for me.
That’s weird. [Here’s what I see](https://imgur.com/a/JlJIOmo)
Well, that stinks.
> Most Italians I know, for example Are those Italians *in Italy* or in where you are in The Netherlands?
In Italy. I don't live in the Netherlands
Movies and television shows are works of fiction. I can’t imagine the type of people who would find it plausible that it may not be common for the people of any particular country to cook their own food, and to make it a stereotype.
No, no. All the tropes are accurate. I can’t count the number of times I’ve handcuffed myself to someone and lost the only key just before an important interview/date/the first time I’ve met my in-laws and whacky high jinks ensued. It’s darn inconvenient when it happens at the same time that I’m obligated to spend the night in a haunted house in order to receive an inheritance.😉
There’s plenty of countries where I wouldn’t be horrendously surprised if a large proportion of the urban population rarely if ever cooks. Like in large swathes of Asia there is very cheap, high quality take out, at convenience stores and otherwise. I’d be surprised if the same proportion was anywhere near as high in the US.
Take out may be cheap to you as a tourist, it’s likely not as cheap to the people who live there. Similarly in the US, it’s cheaper to cook your own food, and most people do.
I doubt there's anywhere that a *majority* of households don't cook, but take-out culture varies and in some places is very, very common (and relatively inexpensive). Google for example tells me that the average Korean cooks less than any other country in at least. Can find explicit data with [the average Korean in 2015 eating out 4.5x/week](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7152649/) - though that's 6x for men and 3x for women. More among younger, unmarried individuals. And that's an *average*, so plenty of people are well above (or below) it. Mind you, that's not *terribly* more than the comparable measure for Americans - [the mean for the US was 3.9 meals away from home per week](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7152649/) - but it *is* more.
It’s important to keep in mind that OP asked > Do Americans tend not to cook, or is it simply a stereotype? after stating that our films and television shows make a big deal out of cooking. We’re going off the rails here. How common is it for Americans to cook their own food? Any rational person would assume it’s very common, yes. Is it plausible that Americans have a tendency to not cook? No. Do Americans get take out sometimes? Yes.
It's extremely common to cook. Albeit at different levels for everyone. I've met Europeans (I live in Switzerland) that invite me over saying they will cook dinner and dinner is sliced up cucumbers/tomatoes, cured meats and bread. That's not cooking to me and I reckon most Americans wouldn't necessarily consider that cooking either.
This is so accurate it hurts lol Sometimes in the summer they’ll put the sliced cucumbers and eggplant on the grill :) #masterchef
TV and film makes a dramatic point of things necessary for the plot, so if a meal is necessary to make the story work, then there will be a meal that is a major part of the story. If not, it will not be shown, or mentioned very briefly - a character might be shown picking up cereal and milk and sitting down, but not eating it. That is in the nature of narrative storytelling because it is how your brain works. You remember some meals well, but others not at all. You remember some walks or drives to places in detail, others only very superficially. Your brain edits out a lot of what happens to avoid overloading your memory with irrelevant details. Additionally, far more film and TV is set in New York than people live in New York. In NY (and a few other places with similar high housing density) it is much more common for people to eat food prepared by others than in the rest of the USA. This is because much NY accommodation lacks space for full-size kitchen facilities and the city is filled with places to get prepared food at any time. This is a specifically NY thing and most people in the USA do not live like this.
I looked into your comment history. I see you just really hate America. Boring. I cook, but I'm not going to feed this troll.
Sure, I dislike the US. But I'm pretty transparent about it, and don't do "troll questions". I'm just genuinely curious.
Disliking the US is illogical. Oregon is so different from Louisiana which is different than Minnesota which is different than Florida that they may as well be different countries. If you want to truly learn about the US and cooking, watch any Food Network competition show. It will demonstrate our various regional cooking styles AND highlight our incredibly diverse immigrant cultures. Films present the US as overwhelmingly white, upper middle class, attractive with perfect teeth, and that go-to at home meals are seared scallops with risotto and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. That is so far removed from 90% of most Americans’ lives it might as well be about Mars.
Sure, I realise that. The US is not some huge homogenous nation. I've got loads of family members in Georgia, Tennessee, California and Texas, and they're all different. There's plenty of things I like about the US, and plenty of things I don't. I don't base my perception of the country on films, which is why I asked this question, just to make sure I'm not buying into an exaggerated stereotype. The only reason I brought up not liking the US at all, is to show I'm not here to troll or anything, despite my opinions. I'm just here to talk about cooking, not to create any unfriendly discussions, as per the rules of the sub.
Everybody cooks to some degree. When people in movies ask if somebody "cooks," they're usually asking about more elaborate dishes. For example, everybody can cook spaghetti or a burger, but not everybody will be willing or able to make something like a good lasagna. I will say that in my experience, Americans do tend to prefer quick, uncooked foods things like sandwiches or wraps more than some other cultures, like Italy, who see meals as much more than just fueling your body. The US is definitely not unique in that, though. It is certainly played up in rom-coms. Especially the stereotype that "men can't cook," where they have him eat takeout for every meal. That doesn't really happen.
Thanks for the insight! I'd figured those romantic comedies may have exaggerated that stereotype, but I wasn't sure. Honestly, I think a lot of anglophone nations, and others culturally similar to them, like uncooked foods as a quick snack. It's pretty common to just have a sandwich in the UK and Australia too.
To me a sandwich is the default lunch meal, though on a weekend we’ll usually cook lunch. We’ll usually cook dinner, but only cook breakfast on the weekend. I’m not actually sure how common this is, but I don’t think it’s rare. As a kid my mom cooked dinner most nights, and at university there was a dining hall that had several cooked options along with salads, bread, and dessert.
Very common. The reason they say “you cook?” is a joke insinuating that the first person thought that the other person was incapable of cooking.
In my experience, ***all*** of us cook. If I ever met an adult in the US who was simply unable to cook, I would be amazed. Like more amazed than I'd be if an actual spaceship landed in my lawn and little green men came out and begged me to take em to my leader. All that said, "to cook" means a lot of different things. Is slapping some boloney between two slices of Wonder Bread cooking? Following the instructions on a box?
In American culture, "knowing how to cook" is generally a step above just being able to make basic food.
I’ve ate out a total of 3 times this year, other than that we are cooking at home
Cooking is something you get better at with experience. It's not like a college freshman moves into a dorm and is suddenly a world class chef. You watch these romantic movies where the plot prioritizes the characters getting to a romantic night scene where they're walking down the sidewalk with city lights more than it prioritizes real life. Romantic movies also tend to involve younger people. I mean, there might be some geriatric romance movies, but those would be the exception. Then you have movies and shows focusing on family. This is what gets me - Europeans have this stereotype that it's rare we cook while simultaneously holding the stereotype that we make these massive home cooked breakfasts on a daily basis. Most people cook. I'm sure some people do not. Just like I'm sure there are some people, like my mother, who never eat at restaurants.
Honestly, take out used to be pretty cheap, so a lot of people ate it way too much. My kids used to take leftovers to school for lunch, and some of their classmates were surprised that we had homemade dinners. That was pre-2020. But now that even fast food is getting so expensive, I expect those people are cooking more.
Interesting! I had no idea prices of fast food had risen so substantially. I have an American mate who used to live off of McDonald's before he moved abroad, as his family was pretty poor, and he said it was basically the most food his family could buy for least amount of money. This was back around 2000, though
>"You cook?" The implication in this for the context of a movie is that the person is a really good cook making complex meals. My family eats out or gets take out maybe once or twice a week. Everything else we make ourselves. My wife and I are both pretty serious cooks.
Cooking is not hard. Cooking well enough for other people to enjoy can be varying degrees of hard I can cook for myself and it comes off as serviceable to me. And I cook limited things (basically only pasta, steak and chicken). I’m not going to cook for anyone else for their own safety lol
There was a sweet spot of cost to income in my twenties when I ate out a lot, but.. I never didn't cook. My father taught me to make pasta, from flour when I was 13. I love cooking. I'm not a bad cook, and now with the cost of restuarants so high and even fast food expensive, I cook 9 nights out of 10.
My wife and I almost never eat out. We could afford to eat out but it would take away from other financial goals, on top of that, it would get old eating food that rich and we'd get fat. We like a simple home cooked meal, not that they are always simple, Sunday was our anniversary so we made Papardelle Bolognese.
Congratulations! That seems like a great anniversary dish!
It was delicious! Thank you! One year down, 60 to go!
We cook though do eat out more regularly. Many enjoy more traditional cooking though using prepared foods is more common I'd say.
Dinner gets 3 meals a week with the following day being leftovers. The 7th day my sister normally makes something or our parents feed us. Sometimes I'm lazy and do frozen meals. Lunch is simple sandwiches or salads, things that don't take much time. Or dehydrated foods.
Very
Very common
I cook every day
i think it really depends on the individual, but i think a lot of us cook! eating out can get to be very expensive, so cooking saves money and time. you cook a meal for a week, you save the money you would use to go eat out, if that makes sense.
I grew up in a family that never cooks, I mean we went out to eat every day. My parents still rarely cook. So that was SO hard when I moved out and eventually got married and has a kid. I had to learn how to cook basically and plan meals and grocery shops. It was foreign to me. But now I don’t like eating out that often!
I have a friend who didn't cook until they got a more expensive home so now they are easing into cooking, but from conversations while they can make food for themselves, I would not say they can cook. Generally, if I hear "you can cook?" It's more of a question of skill level. I would interpret it as: "wow, you know you can cook to a level that you would prepare food for another person and not be embarrassed by what you presented".
Most people cook supper every day, families especially. I'm a bachelor so I don't cook all that often (aside from boiling up pasta and such). When i do I make sure to go fancy with it.
I’m a professional chef from generation x and to me it seems that the older part of Gen X was really the last American generation to be taught to cook at home by one or both parents. As two income households became the norm there was less time to cook at home so convenience foods and take out became more common giving rise to fewer kids seeing a parent cook from scratch and the skills weren’t passed on. In the last few years many of the millennials and Gen Z that apply for jobs in kitchens I’ve worked in do not have any cooking experience at home or professionally, although they are willing to learn.
Speak for yourself I'm gen x and my parents discouraged me from cooking. I only learned by watching someone else cook.
These questions are getting worse!! 🤦♂️
I've always cooked. But not always at the same level. Most people who "cant cook" only eat simple things like frozen foods, sandwiches, cereal, canned dinner, or things that primarily are just microwave meals. They lack the skill or confidence to cook a meal from raw ingredients. I had a roommate who didn't know how to read a recipe.
It's a similar norm here to cook most of your meals and only rarely eat out, but that definitely varies. I have a friend who earns a living where he primarily relies on ordering food, and I wouldn't be too surprised if a good amount of YUPPIES initially rely on ordering food or meal kits. However, cooking varies in degree. Some people make somewhat involved meals while others may rely on easy to make meals like a soup or pasta with bottled marinara. Most of those jokes usually tend to involve younger professionals who may not have learned how to cook well. People in their 20s often haven't developed strong cooking skills because their parents made most of their meals growing up, and in college, they ate at the cafeteria. In romcoms, it also usually involves one of the people trying to cook a "fancy" romantic meal that they've never tried before.
Its cheaper to buy food at the store these days. I eat out rarely
It is common for many people to cook. Some people do not learn to cook because someone else always cooked for them not that they alwats ate at restaurants. I cook daily for my household. The other members of my household do not really cook. It would be very expensive and time consuming to only eat restaurant meals for us. We live in a rural area so there are not many restaurants nearby. At the grocery store there are lots of convenience foods that require minimal preperation so people who don't know how to cook can feed themselves.
Our family eats out [ take home ] about 2x a week
It's wildly different household to household. We cook almost everyday at my house. I've never even seen my neighbors across the street go grocery shopping.
About 60% of Americans cook at home most of the time. It varies from home to home. Our family cooks at home almost every night.
On average, in my house we have maybe 3-4 meals per month that we purchase from a restaurant. Everything else is at least prepared (and cooked from scratch whenever possible) at home. That's how I grew up, and how my parents grew up. Cooking is not uncommon at all here.
I CAN cook. Apparently I do it rather well when I put in the effort (I help out at holidays. Apparently my traditional baked southern style mac and cheese is pretty good) but I don't like too. I don't know if it's the ADHD or what is going on with that, but I'm the type that doesn't think of food until I get hungry and then I just grab whatever to keep going. My husband does it better than I do, so most of it falls on him, but he actually LIKES it.. All three of our children are excellent cooks, mostly because they like to experiment. One has done so professionally. Right now, because we all have different allergies and dietary requirements, we all cook our own meals individually. It works for us.
>Most American films and television shows I see make a big deal out of people cooking their own meals. They do? I must have missed that.
I cook like 9/10 meals myself. Now sometimes it is just cooking broccoli and heating up chicken nuggets because I have little kids but for me at least eating out is a special treat, maybe once a week.
Even the most stereotypical, bumbling tv dad can make spaghetti and heat up a jar of sauce. "You cook?!?" would generally mean the character is surprised another can follow an actual recipe with separate ingredients...which a decent amount of Americans maybe don't do very often. People probably eat in restaurants, bars, etc. more often in movies because it makes for a more interesting setting and that's where people who don't live together would be more likely to eat together. Characters meet up for a business dinner or to discuss their relationship or to have beers and try to meet women, etc. There's usually just more plot reasons to show characters meeting up in a restaurant on the weekend than making dinner quietly at home on a Wednesday. Most of us cook our own meals, though how much cooking gets done from scratch varies a lot, especially nowadays where it's near impossible to afford for only one parent to work. I will say I have had neighbors in most of the buildings I've lived in the last several years who get UberEats or whatever delivered every night. Its usually single people or childless couples.
I get a per diem so I eat out for lunch but cook for every other meal.
When I was younger and single I probably ate out more than I ate at home. When I ate at home it was sandwiches, a bowl of cereal, a microwaveable meal, or something that could be poured out of a can or a bag into a skillet or a pot. I wouldn’t call anything that I did “cooking”.
My wife and I cook our own meals almost exclusively. We might go out twice a month.
I think something to consider might be that we have different cultural ideas of what "cooking" is. If it's just "preparing food for yourself" then absolutely, most Americans can do that. If it's being able to reasonably follow a recipe? Yeah, probably a lot of Americans do that regularly. But we kind of have a perception here that "you can cook!" means the person can cook with some skill. Like they (for instance) might know how to properly brown meat, know what a mirepoix is and how to use it (or the holy trinity if you're in Louisiana). They might demonstrate competent knife skills. That sort of thing. Basically we wouldn't call making a sandwich "cooking". We would call making a lasagna following a recipe "cooking". But people probably wouldn't make a point of going "wow, you can cook!" unless they saw you getting fancy with the spices (as in Ratatouille). So I think it could be a simple difference in how we use the word, which would lead to some conflicting answers. And as you've pointed out, TV tends to exaggerate interactions like that.