I like Michael Ruhlman. Really I do. I love The Elements Of Cooking, he's great on Iron Chef America, and his blog is one of the few foodblogs that I read regularly. So I hate to say this, but I must. Fuck off, Ruhlman. I'm a home cook.

Nothing is more tedious in a subculture than terminology debates. For example, "foodie". Apparently people discuss the word "foodie" and whether it should be used or not. Personally, I prefer the term "food nerd", because a Trekkie is nothing but a Trek nerd, a Trekker is nothing but a Trek nerd with a stick up their ass, and a foodie treats food the exact same way Trek nerds treat Trek. Some in a good way, some in an irritating way.

But somehow, the discussion of "foodie" led to the discussion of "cook" vs. "home cook", which caused Ruhlman to reach the following conclusion. ACTUAL... wait, fuck. Wrong website.

I think that's really all the distinction there needs to be. I don't like the term home cook for the very reason the Tweeter seemed to indicate. There's something precious about it, and it grates. Unless you work in a restaurant, where else are you going to cook? Why do we even need to call ourselves cooks, home or not. Pardus doesn't say he's a home writer. A guy who makes Shaker boxes on the weekend doesn't call himself a home carpenter. On the other hand, if we're asked whether we cook, we say, Yes. Cook is a verb. It's what some of us do. Not what we are. Unless we are, in which case we can pay our rent with the result of our cooking. I'm for abolishing the term "home cook." Or at least not using it.

Bullshit and wankery. There are all kinds of descriptive words, nouns tied to verbs, that we use to describe our hobbies. I'm a gamer. I game. It's not all I am, but it's still true. I'm a writer. I write. Again, not all I am, but still true. I'm a cook. I cook. Specifically, I don't just cook so that the biomass I shovel into my piehole to fuel my body is warm. I cook to improve my cooking, to try new things, to experience new flavors, and to bring myself hedonistic pleasure the way my other hobbies do.

And I'm a HOME cook because that's the general-usage term for an amateur. I don't run a catering business, I don't get paid to cook, I don't even get paid to write about cooking - the micropittance from Google Ads and Amazon referrals doesn't count. Other hobbies have other modifiers in the language. Shaker box guy "does some carpentry". Writer guy is probably a blogger, or writes for fun, or writes on the side. I play video games in my spare time.

It's not condescending, unless you've got some serious self-esteem and insecurity issues. It's not inaccurate, because it's where amateurs do their cooking - in homes - as opposed to professionals like Ruhlman, who cook and eat in restaurants and on the teevee. It's not redundant, because it provides a clarifying piece of information that separates home cooks out from line cooks or short order cooks or professional cooks or chefs.

Most language arises to fill a niche. There is a concept that needs describing, so we concoct phrases or invent new words to describe it. Trying to abolish a term is like trying to stop a thunderstorm by holding up your hands and shouting IT'S NOT RAINING. And trying to get a nerdy subculture to agree on specific nerdy terminology for the members of the nerdy subculture is not only incredibly fucking nerdy, it's a proven exercise in futility. So good luck with that.