Discussion Why in most movies or book i always see a family always cook something every times they will eat?

I live in indonesia, and most family in Indonesia i met only cook once a day
Like they will cook in afternoon and the dish will still be eaten on the next morning
But in movies and books Western, and East Asia countries always cook new dishes whenever time to eat come, is it true?

 

if there are leftovers.
people don't cook more than they need

 

Mine depends on the food

 

It depends. Most people in the west (or where i live, atleast) ''cooks'' new stuff for breakfast, since that is usually lighter meals, so eating left overs is kind of a waste. Some people eat left overs from the previous days dinner for lunch, but many people also again eat lighter stuff, like bread with sliced meat on it, and stuff like that. For dinner tho, many people cook for 2 days at a time.

And obviously you can't take stuff from books and movies as the standard. They're meant to entertain, so they'll often show people in the best situation possible.

 

It depends what you mean by cooking. Pouring a bowl a cereal isn't cooking, but if we feel like having waffles for breakfast or something we have to cook it fresh. Lunch is kind of a free for all for my household, but sometimes we'll throw something in the oven for 15 minutes. Dinner is probably the one we most consistently cook for, but if you don't consider eating leftovers to be cooking the we cook dinner half the time.

 

Depends only on the case of leftovers if not i cook for every meal

 

I see...in my hometown we cook our food in big amount so it can last for three eating times

 

Isn't it more weird to only cook once a day, rather than cook what you want when you want it? Is there some rule that says you can't cook more than once a day?

 

In some countries you don’t eat something you’ve cook for lunch at dinner or vice versa. Eg you don’t eat pizza for breakfast (unless you are an overweight NEET type person). But usually it applies to things like soup. Where I was born they ate soup for lunch but never for dinner. Where I live now they often have soup for dinner instead... but usually not two times soup a day either

 

That's why i i ask if it's true.. .

 

Not really, but in my hometown people only cook once a day because they will cook in big amount so it can last to next morning as breakfast , if we cook more than that it's usually for cooking a light snacks like fried banana

 

Indian here. Our family cooks thrice a day. Fresh breakfast and lunch. But many times our and other busy families cook enough for afternoon lunch and night dinner due to lack of time. But no leftovers is saved for next day. We have stray and pet dogs and cows which eat leftovers on the same day.

 

I agree with the shaggy cow thing.

It's strange to cook only once a day. Ai-chan has never met anyone who cooks once in the morning and let it be eaten until dinner. In the first place, breakfast, lunch and dinner are different.

With breakfast, you want light stuff that provide a lot of carbs to last until dinner or at least until lunch. At lunch, you eat to replenish stuff, so it's common to eat quite heavy. At tea time, you normally eat sweets and coffee. At dinner, you would eat stuff that requires time to digest, so that even while you sleep your body will not be starved.

I'm guessing the OP means rice. Sure, rice cooked in the morning can last even the next morning. However, the side dishes are not something that are normally eaten from day to night. It only makes sense to cook them as needed.

 

Probably they made those dish just enough for single serving and a bit extra

 

We cook at least once a day most of the time, if there is left overs we'll have it for lunch the next day, probably 2-3 times a week we'll cook breakfast. Very few families I've met ever cook 3 times a day but that's more of a scheduling issue as lunch is a meal that everyone is generally at work or school for.

 

it's a movie, the reason they always show cooking cause they gotta feed the crew and director thought might as well use it as footage to show a harmonious family

 

Not really, in my hometown , the mothers cook in afternoon and we will eat same dish on the next morning, the only difference is in the morning the mothers will make light snacks and tea to be eaten before or after breakfast

 

Tbh I think it’s cultural, I mean in our culture it’s not good if you run out of food you know.... like it’s not a good habit. Cooked or otherwise. It’s considered ‘alakhi’ .. my mom always cook enough for us and some more... and the left over is kept in the fridge. Or However it is to be stored. So if anyone ever feels hungry or some reason, they can grab the snacks or they can eat the leftovers from morning’s or last night. Sometimes, very rarely food remains in excess and so we don’t bothering cooking the next meal...
In my country, lunch and dinner aren’t much different in terms of setup.... so yeah.





Now we are from the east, people from from the south on the other hand.... They never ever eat left over. If food from today goes unused, they’ll throw it. No questions asked. No matter the quantity. Whether it can feed 3 ppl or not. Or whether it can be safely stored. Tbh fridge and modern amenities are kind of useless to them imo... sigh

While they waste food, they make the best roommates cuz then they just give you their food. What a waste of money and resources tbh. But that’s culture for you. By the way since they throw their food BUT THEY ALSO RESPECT IT, they are very sharp in how much they will cook... usually they cook almost exactly as much as they need. Nothing more nothing less. And hence they cook every single meal. Seems tiring...





@Ddraig @Nyan sempai @TwilightForest

 

I cook big batches of things like stews, bolognese ('sauce' of ground meat), chili con carne, meatloaf, lasagna. and what not.

Depending on what it is it will be stored in freezer and refrigerator or just refrigerator (which means that how much I'll make at most varies from dish to dish). Something like bolognese and chili con carne I'll keep for up to a week or two in the freezer with lunch boxes (depending on how long it takes to eat it all up).

Lasagna and Meatloaves also works, though I tend to keep them in the casserole so I'll keep them in the refrigerator or maybe the freezer with plastic wrap if I made a lot a lot.


But even though I'm just re-heating, unless it's a self-contained dish like Lasagna, I'll still cook something else to go with the rest. Like rice or pasta.

Mashed potatoes doesn't store nicely either.


Usually I have one dish in store (say lasagna for 4 days or so), but then also cook other things (or just warm up some pre-processed food when I'm too lazy) every other day. Or maybe eat one for lunch and the other for dinner.


Anyway, so it's a mix of just making something for the day (especially if it's something like a steak), leftovers/food made to be stored for a week or two, and pre-processed food. (And of course breakfast, sometimes I make bread, but usually it's store-bought.)