I had a friend over this past weekend and we ended up eating in most of the time. We had smoothies, fruit, yogurt, eggs etc. for breakfast/brunch and did BBQ using the grill on the terrace for dinner. Both salmon and steak are great for BBQ in the summer when it is hot outside.
I like cooking, though BBQ is not exactly cooking, and neither are smoothies! The reason I like cooking is because I love good food and want to eat something good myself (thus I cook just for myself.) I also like cooking because you can try new things and new combinations. I have great cookbooks etc. which I follow, but I also experiment with different combinations, and try a new recipe whether it is what my friends brought for a get-together or what I enjoyed at a restaurant. My latest experiments have been salmon pie, cream cheese appetizer, and roast beef in Tokyo and different kinds of salad with seafood, fruits etc. while in British Columbia.
I like planning what to serve when having people over in Tokyo. (I do not make everything, as it becomes too much!) As a matter of fact, I will have my students (about ten or so) over at my apartment next week and I am now planning what to serve. (Trying to be a little different!)
I also realize that it is nice to cook for others. I used to cook for my late husband when he was at the hospital. As hospital food is not usually too appealing, I brought something almost every day to cook at the hospital. You need to be creative and also flexible because you do not have space or utensils. (He ate what I brought and cooked there, while I ate his hospital food, which was not that bad!)
Lately, I sometimes bring food to have dinner with my parents who are in their late 80s. My mother is very weak and cannot walk, and usually has little appetite. Sometimes I bring some deli or gourmet food from department store basements, but often I cook there or cook at home and bring there. I was not sure why I wanted to do that, as I am usually pressed for time and have to rush, cooking, packing and going to see them.
I realized one day that it is because it is nice to cook for others. It is nice to see people like what you cook. I missed it for a long time as my husband passed away eight years ago and I had not cooked for others for a while. My parents like what I bring (no matter what it is!) . We may think it takes time and too much hassle, but cooking for others who appreciate it gives me joy. It is the joy of cooking of a kind.
Yoko Ishikura is a Professor at Hitotsubashi University ICS in the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy in Japan. She has held positions as a professor at the School of International Politics, Economics and Business of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, as a consultant at McKinsey and Company Inc. Japan and a visiting professor at Darden School.
Professor Ishikura is a consultant to a number of multinational companies and has been a frequent speaker at management conferences, seminars, and workshops throughout the world. She was a member of the Regulatory Reform Committee for the Japanese government and the International Competitiveness Commission for METI. She is currently a Forum Fellow of the World Economic Forum.
She is the author of Strategic Shift from OR choices to AND paradigm, Building Core Skills of Organization , and the co-author of the following publications: Managing Diversity in the 21st Century, Strategy for Cluster Initiatives in Japan , and Building a Career to the World Class Professionals – all in Japanese. Her books in English include: Asian Advantage, Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management and Trust and Antitrust in Asian Business Alliances.
Professor Ishikura’s current research interests are focused on global competition, innovation, and knowledge management. She received her BA from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan; MBA from Darden School, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia; and DBA from Harvard Business School.
