Maslow's Hierachy of Cooking/Eating

I was dining out the other day with Weezie and we got into a discussion on the quality of the prepared food.  I have noticed different people have achieved different levels of culinary development.  It intrigued me to observe the relationship between culinary development and Maslow's Hierachy.  I wondered, if there was any documentation on it anywhere on the internet.

There are many "Maslow's Hierachy of . . . ", and several of them on foods and chefs.  But I could not find one along the lines of what I was thinking, so . . . to add to the bulk on the internet, I have decided to add my two cents.

At the bottom of Maslow's Hierachy is the physiological.  Working upwards through safety to love/belonging, and then on to esteem, finally ending with self-actualization.  Here is the same with respect to cooking/eating.



Self-Actualization

• Creating edible works of art that appeal to all five senses.
• Using a balance of contrasts and similarities to add intrigue to the food.

Esteem

• Creating something from scratch.
• Creating a food "without a cookbook" or recipe.

Love/belonging

• Creating something others would recognize as "home made".
• Often thought of as food made by following a recipe from a cookbook.

Safety

• Generally entails reheating leftovers or heating pre-packaged foods.
• Nearly complete lack of creativity as everything other than heat is already done.

Physiological

• What gets rid of the feelings of hunger.
• Open the refrigerator/pantry and grab something as is. 
• Snacks

A large majority of food eaten/served falls in the middle three categories.  I would argue most home cooks never grow above the middle level.  Even the security of a tried-and-true recipe that no longer needs a physically written recipe remains unmodified and escapes not the realm of the third level.

Attaining the esteemed level of creating basic ideas from scratch requires the cook to feel confident in their skills, to venture away from the safety of someone else's idea, and to yearn for that "something new and different".  This level is fraught with failures, and the cook who shrinks from failure seldom venture here.  Weezie and I have a firm understanding.  Any attempt at a meal can always be enjoyed by simply supplementing it with an order of takeout pizza. (Fortunately, we've never had to resort to takeout pizza.  Even our failures have been, um, edible. Okay, so sometimes we experimented with something different and threw away the first creation.)

Self-Actualization is a fleeting experience here.  That food which embodies all that goes before (ridding hunger and providing the pleasure of being unique, all the while tickling and tantalizing each of the five senses) beacons me ever onward.  Visually appealing food (You eat first with your eyes.) that offer a tantalizing aroma without overpowering is an art.  Hearing the fresh crunch of a vegetable all the while enjoying a mouth feel and taste that is more than a simple note is like a piece of music.  Sure, we could play chopsticks on the piano with one finger, but how much more enjoyable it is when all ten fingers are playing, both in unison and counterpunctually.  This is the mark of a great chef and restaurant.