Fine Cookware and Moral Nurture

The purchasing and use of fine cookware is a moral issue. The reason is that fine cookware is durable; it lasts and lasts and becomes heirlooms passed down to children and grandchildren. It is a wise use of non-renewable resources: metal and oil (the source of plastic).

There is another moral issue involving fine cookware that I have wanted to write about for some time. It is this.

Fine cookware is carefully designed to function with excellence. For instance, the blade metal, shape, and handle of our knives are engineered to enable the quick and efficient processing of food. In addition, the cookware is manufactured by careful craftsmanship, much of the work done by hand. Moreover, it is made for beauty as well as superior function.

Plato in the Republic argues that the human pursuit of excellence should be reinforced by the products in a culture. Excellence in tools, furniture, houses, and clothing impresses upon a person the importance of skill, proper form, and beauty as ideals. When children are surrounded by well made, aesthetically pleasing objects of daily use, Plato believes it will help nurture the aspiration to be excellent in human behavior and character.

I think Plato is right. And I believe fine cookware is important for that reason. It is one area of human endeavor in which most of us function several times a day. Moreover, the excellence of fine cookware is obvious and significant. It can be immediately seen and felt in a knife. Our children understand the good of craftsmanship from observing us and, as they help us, using our cookware.

But it is not just the cookware; it is the thoughtfulness and care taken in preparing meals. We cook simple but distinctive meals for and with our children. And then we eat them together as a family. We talk together about the food - the olive oils and spice blends - and also our lives, sharing our experiences and feelings, our loves and dislikes, our triumphs and failures, our hopes and fears, our joys and sorrows. It nurtures our love for each other; it creates bonds of treasured moments and cherished dishes. But it also exposes our children to a pleasure and aesthetic beauty that draws them to excellence, that gives them a sense of distinctiveness and dignity.

In short, fine cookware and fine cooking should, can, and does nurture moral character. I do not believe it is a sufficient cause of human excellence, but it is one significant ingredient.