Sure, we all cook to eat and to feed our families, but I've got an ulterior motive in the kitchen: the tactile tasks and sensory pleasures of cooking. In fact, when the day or week is done, it's downright therapeutic to get my hands working on a cutting board rather than a keyboard. And I'm intrigued to learn that many of my colleagues feel the same way: There's lots of satisfaction to be found in kitchen techniques, quite apart from the primary goal of making something great to eat. And everyone seems to have a personal favorite task, or two or three.

Me, I love deglazing (for the alchemy that transforms burnt-looking mess into flavorful/textural riches) and chiffonading herbs or greens (again, it's transformative, and it makes such a resounding thwump of cleaver on butcher block).

"I like blanching tomatoes. That always feels like a magic trick. And there's something very zen yet destructive about cutting up vegetables. You're relaxed as you decimate the onion."--Sara Bonisteel

"I find it so gratifying to slather frosting across a cake, especially the final swipe that covers that last little bit of exposed edge. It provides a sense of completion, and it's very methodical and orderly. (I think this is also why I love to vacuum. And why, semi-secretly, I'd love to ride a Zamboni.)"--Kelly Senyei

"If a recipe calls for mixing something together in a big bowl with your hands, I'm your gal. It sounds gross, but I love squirshing eggs, bread crumbs, and ground meat into meatballs and meatloaves. It's kinda like being a mad scientist, but without the hunchbacked assistant."--Siobhan Adcock

"I love stirring puddings and watching and feeling them thicken. I love rolling out dough (and doing anything with dough, frankly). I find making lattice-top pies immensely gratifying--the cutting, the gentle laying on top of the fruit. Same goes with crimping! And I do love doing anything that involves my daughter. Shelling peas together, frosting things (many times, including herself)…

"--Kerry Acker "Is it weird that I really only enjoy the smell of cooking, and not the actual work involved? But that might have a lot to do with the unfortunate layout and limited counter space I have at home. But it's really the smell that I look forward to. That said, if I have to pick one, I'll pick the immersion blender. The whirring sound when I'm puréeing my soup is rather soothing."--Esther Sung

"I love to zest lemons on a Microplane, love watching the feathery strips fly off. I love to chop an onion. Love seeing the little cubes tumble down as you slice across all the horizontal slices. I love trying to zest a lemon or orange with a vegetable peeler in one unbroken piece. Same with a potato. It's a game to play in the kitchen. I love bringing a roux or cornstarch-thickened sauce to a boil and feeling it thicken as you whisk it. I ADORE mashing garlic to a paste with salt in a mortar...

Read the original on: Siobhan Adcock's blog