Reading Fiction Can Make You A Better Cook

Looking to up your culinary skills? Perhaps you’ve gotten into a cooking rut and want to spice up your dinners? According to neuroscientist, nutrition and food blogger Dr Darya Pino, one way to improve your cooking skills is to try new things, and one great way to get inspired to try new cuisines and dishes is to read more fiction — specifically fiction that transports you to different worlds and cultures.

Photo by Zitona.

On her blog, Summer Tomato, she explained something that those of us who love to read already know: that reading about a place can often inform you about the location and its culture in ways visiting may not and therefore inspire you to learn more. A good book can stick with you for weeks or months. Take that impact and use it to inspire you in the kitchen. She says:

For instance, it’s impossible for me to read Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, which I’ve done several times, without craving Spanish tapas and red wine for the better part of a month (this is also why Spanish food is one of my absolute favourite cuisines). The Last Chinese Chef had me exploring obscure alleyways in Chinatown in search of the best dumplings and peking duck, and before reading it I would have said Chinese food wasn’t really my jam.

Pino makes a few other book recommendations in the full post at the link below. What do you think? Have you ever been inspired to try a new dish or cuisine by a book you read? Let us know in the comments.

How Reading Fiction Can Make You a Better Cook [Summer Tomato]