Cooking - Art or Science?

I'm a very impulsive cook. Also a lazy one. When I do decide to cook something, I usually make sure it's a dessert. Or a cake. Somehow a cake seems very easy to me. You just mix everything together and pop it in the oven and watch it a bit carefully and in sometime, voila, something impressive emerges out of it. Most of the time atleast.

Which brings me to the question, do you think cooking is an art or science? I'm of the opinion that it's more of an art. I somehow love the image of myself sprinkling some salt randomly into a dish or throwing together a couple of things and seeing it emerge into a tasty dish. Of course, the reality is usually very different. I find the whole process of painfully measuring out everything rather boring. Also, as I said, I'm lazy. So I usually make do with approximate measurements and find that it works just fine. I mean, does it even matter if I use ten grams less butter?

On the other hand, if I have to replicate a recipe, then it doesn't usually turn out the same way each time. Which is where I should be thinking of cooking as a science. I remember teaching Sabs about why accuracy is important in science because the experiment has to have the same result each and every time.

I made a coffee cake a couple of days ago and since I didn't have my weighing machine with me, I used approximate measurements and it came out just fine. I made it again today and it wasn't the same because I think there was a little more sugar in this one. Never mind the fact that it got over in minutes. Still, it got me thinking about whether cooking should be considered an art or science. I'm all for art but I think science wants to butt in too.

The recipe for the coffee cake? Oh the usual sponge but I just had to add three tablespoons of instant coffee mixed with hot water. I used a little less coffee and maybe that was why the flavour wasn't that intense. Also Geetha (www.fragrantkitchen.blogspot.com) tells me that I should sieve the coffee powder with the flour or use Narasu's Coffee which is stronger.

Of course to those who eat and enjoy, the question is hardly important. But I'm just curious. Also, I have no books to write at the moment and I'm not just feeling lazy, I'm bored.

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