1 . It was just after 17:00 on a mid-September evening at a historical Church in Harlem, New York City. Mostly the low-income black neighborhood sat at dining tables. In front of them was a menu listing three courses, which they only saw on TV. Each dish was prepared with “leftover” ingredients(食材), offered free of charge and placed alongside a blue card that read “you are loved” in hand-written script.

This-is-one of 14 community centers created around the world in cities like Milan, Paris, Mérida, Lima, Sydney and now New York through three-Michelin starred chef Massimo Bottura’s Food for Soul project. He started the project in 2016 with his wife, Lara Gilmore, to help fight the global problem of food waste-by using ingredients that might otherwise be thrown away by suppliers and to give socially and economically vulnerable people access to high quality meals.

Partnering with architects, artists and community leaders, the project is transforming spaces, which are not fully taken advantage of, such as churches and even a historical home into intentionally designed cultural centers equipped with kitchens, dining rooms and other facilities that help create a sense of well-being, connection and inclusion.

When I asked Bottura why he created such thoughtful. meals within beautifully appointed spaces for the low-income, he told me that everyone deserves respect and beauty-and of course, healthy food. “They come in and are completely lost because they’re not used to coming into beautiful places, like this. But once they’re here, they realize that this place is their place. It’s not my place,” he said.

Bottura’s philosophy is one that comes from the heart. T-shirts worm by volunteers at his community centers say “cooking is an act of love”, and he approaches the food served there with as much care as he does at his restaurants — “probably even more”, he said since the diners are extremely stressed and need healthy food to feel better. Bottura insists that it’s important to change the language around the food served in his community centers.

7 . My mother used to say that when your mother was really good at something, you didn’t learn to do it. What she said was ________. My grandmother was skilled in baking and cooking, but my mother was a barely ________ cook for our family of seven. We didn’t ________; we had meat, potatoes and another vegetable at every meal out of a can.

Baking was not Mom’s ________, so on Saturday mornings, she would ________ us to the bakery for fresh cake. Mom did learn to make the ________ Dad loved — bacon and eggs, spare ribs (排骨) and, ________, potato salad. Potato salad was my mom’s major ________ to every summer, ________ eating such a dish on a hot July day wasn’t a good idea. Mayonnaise (蛋黄酱) in it could be difficult to ________ and you might have to go to the bathroom frequently.

Case in point: the time my uncle and aunt and their six kids ________ at the lake with us. The ________ included burgers, burnt or slightly raw, lots of pop, and Mom’s potato salad. We spent hours at the lake. Unfortunately, so did the salad.

________, I realize that polishing off Mom’s potato salad may have been the reason that Dad finally built us a second bathroom, which ________ that everything can have a bright side. My mother didn’t ________ in the kitchen, but I miss her cooking so much.

8 . Tomorrow’s menus could feature items prepared with complex cooking techniques and presentation — all at the push of a button. Columbia University mechanical engineers have designed a 3 - D printer that can produce and cook dishes at the same time with details at the millimeter scale.

The design combines a multiwavelength laser (激光) cooker, roughly the size of five smart phones piled together, with a microwave - oven - sized food printer. The system uses various light wavelengths to cook in different ways: a short - waved blue laser goes deep inside meat, for example, while infrared beams (红外线光束) brown the surface. As the device’s robotic arm places fine layers of chicken puree (酱, 糊), a high - powered beam moves over them and cooks the meat — with literally laser - focused precision. Thus, users can achieve perfect results — say, a machine - made burger that varies between rare and well done in a checkerboard pattern.

“It gives you a lot more control and customization,” says Jonathan Blutinger, lead author of the paper and a digital - cooking researcher at Columbia. The researchers tested only chicken for this study, but the system can work with other foods as well.

Beyond applying diverse materials and presentation patterns, this type of software - controlled setup could someday scan a QR code to automatically prepare dishes tailored to individual eating habits and dietary restrictions, Blutinger says.

The new technology is “astonishing”, says Megan Ross, a food scientist who studies 3 - D printing at Ireland’s University College Cork. Ross notes that the design is still at a beginning stage and that many technical challenges remain, such as preventing cross pollution between layers of raw and cooked meat. Still, Ross is impressed by the device’s ability to produce foods outside the field of conventional cooking. “Is this going to be sold in shops everywhere in the next few years? No,” she says. “But everyone has to start somewhere.”

9 . Diane Henderiks, a former athlete, pursued a career in nutrition to combine her passions of food, health and physical activity throughout her life. “The field of nutrition is so big,” she says. “I found my place in teaching people how to cook and eat well.”

Attracted by media, specifically television, Henderiks made regular on-air appearances and served as an editorial contributor for ABC’s Good Morning America. “From my first local TV appearance, I knew this was going to be the medium for me to share my knowledge and skills with a lot of people at one time,” she says.

As the host of the show Fresh to Frozen and Back, Henderiks uses her expertise as a registered dietitian (营养师) and chef to create recipes with fresh and simple ingredients. “My audience are home cooks and families who want to improve nutrition at home,” Henderiks. says. “I believe simplicity is key. The first step to healthier eating is to try to eat as close to nature as possible.”

Henderiks finds joy in cooking for family and friends, and also in volunteering and working with nonprofit organizations. Beyond her TV show and volunteer work, Henderiks doescatering (酒席承办) and is a private chef. “The positive feedback I receive is that organizations, TV shows and individuals all love my passion for cooking,” she says. “The lasting impressions and solid relationships speak for themselves.”

A true inspiration to fellow nutrition professionals and students, Henderiks presents this encouraging advice, “Follow your passion and never give up. Volunteer and give back as much as you can to organizations that mean something to you. Work very hard to be one of the go-to experts in nutrition!”

10 . “Cook for yourself like you would for a guest.” This advice comes from Claire Lower in an article for Lifehacker. It seems to be good advice for people who live alone and can’t be bothered to cook delicious food when there’s no one else to enjoy it. Yes, they can gorge themselves on popcorn and call it a night without fear of judgment, but Lower argues that this “wears on the soul” over time.

Every meal is a chance to work on good table manners, including the art of dinner conversation, eating tidily, and using cutlery properly. You can try to use nice dishes and real glasses in order to create an appealing atmosphere that encourages everyone to take the meal more seriously.

At the same time, it is a parental duty to cook a range of interesting and delicious meals to help train children for the unavoidable day when they actually are at a fancy restaurant or a friend’s house and faced with a strange soup, an unusual salad, or an unrecognizable main course. That way, they’ll know what to do and how to do it politely.

Eating gives shape and meaning to our days, not to mention flavour, nutrition and energy. Just as boring, repetitive meals wear on the soul, delicious ones can bring happiness, hopefulness, and peace. So, don’t give up on cooking well, whether it’s just for you or for a group of children, even if it’s just a few times a week and the dishes are simple. It does get easier and better, and you’ll learn to look forward to it.