Cook With my Partner

“My husband and I cook together quite often. This is a source of utter amazement to my parents and sibling, who have more traditional relationships (she cooks, he might grill) -- they stare as if we are circus animals. We have a tiny kitchen and it's a bit of a dance but we have had close to 20 years to get used to it. Typically he does the actual cooking, I do the prep. The opposite is true for baking. I do timing (he's hopeless at getting things to the table still warm, possibly because he does not mind cold food). I do most of the meal planning; it's just my nature.”

“When we cook together it's often on things like chili, bolognase, etc. with a lot of chopping and herbs. One person does the garlic and onions while the other does the veggies, sautes the meat, etc. I think it's just getting a feel for it over time, at first it always felt awkward and now it works well. But I think it might not ever work well in smaller kitchens so if yours is small that might be the issue.”

“Although my wife and I have very different styles, we cook together regularly. It's a situation of complimentary skills and interests. I'm obsessively tidy in the kitchen which means I'm always packing dishwashers, wiping down benches and putting things away when they are no longer required. I act as the sous chef for her which makes her cooking more enjoyable and I love chopping things up, so this arrangement works well. We don't always team up on the same dishes. My partner makes the most amazing desserts and I love making stocks, sauces and soups. But our most successful dishes have been for dinner parties when we work together on the same recipe. Some elements of prep we do separately and then we'll do the cooking together, using individual experience and shared instinct to guide us towards the final result.”