In the March issue of Bon Appetite (you know, the one with the drool worthy pizza on the cover) the editors came up with a play list of songs each suited to a particular cooking task. Cooking to music is nothing new. I usually just flip on NPR, but if we want to get all “Like Water for Chocolate” about it, finding the right mood could enhance the final product, even if it is just dinner for one.

For Soup: Cooking time 47 minutes
Bon Appetite suggests Bob Dylan, Bringing it all back home.
Why? Mainly for the use of the word stockpot, and “is wonderfully suited”.

Don’t you think it would depend on the kind of soup you were making? A velvety roasted butternut squash soup vs. a spring pea soup? Or a crisp cool gazpacho vs. a hearty comfort stew? You couldn’t play the same song for each. Granted not every album will carry a particular mood throughout, but we can try.

I say for creamy soups: soft and sexy, something to get you into a warm mood. American Analog Set, Know by Heart. Why? Melodic and charming, soft vocals, need I say more?
For stews: Flying Burrito Brothers, The Gilded Palace of Sin. Why? Songs of heartbreak, jealously, and scorn suggest correction with a big hearty bowl of stew.
For light or cold soups: Apples in Stereo, The Discovery of a World Inside the Moon. Why? Big beats, cheery vocals, and a little call and response echoes the essence of spring and summer.

For Baking a cake: Cooking time 66 minutes.
Bon Appetite suggests Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle “You stole My Heart: Songs from R.D Burman’s Bollywood.”
Why? “The emotional high and lows are perfect for the step by step process of baking a perfect cake.”

I support their reasoning, baking a cake can require one to go through a series of hair pulling steps (especially if the recipe if from one Martha Stewart), but Bollywood! ICK. I realize that I may be the only one not yet on this Bollywood train, but I just can’t get into it. I’m not a musical person, save for Grease (John Travolta when he was cute), and I blame a college roommate who used to blare Bollywood hit after hit it in our small studio apartment.

Like soups, I think different cakes require different songs, a classic buttercream frosted yellow or chocolate cake vs. a ganache covered death by chocolate dream.

Cakes for fun, Brigitte Bardot. Why? Carefree and in lyrics lost on my non-French speaking ears, all concentration can be focused on one of Martha’s 29 step cake-tasrophies.
Cakes to seduce, Bille Holiday, The Essential Bille Holiday. Why? Sweet and Sorrow, let her smoky croon guide that flat spatula over a pool of silky moose frosting.

For Stir-frying: cooking time 63 minutes
Bon Appetite suggests, Missy Elliott, “The Cookbook”
Why? “This CD is funky and witty enough to keep you slicing and dicing.”

Frankly, I have to disagree. I love me some Missy, don’t get me wrong, but when a Missy tune comes on, all control is cast aside, and dancing in unavoidable, generally in a robotic, stiff arm, dropping shoulder, caboose shaking action. Not something that allows one to focus on the detailed tasks stir-frying requires.

My Pick: The Go! Team, Thunder Lightning Strike. Why? It’s energetic, more pogo dancing than crunkin’. Arms can get into the mix as well, with rhythmical stir-frying or chopping action.

Finally, for Braising All Day, cooking time 5 hours, 27 minutes
Bon Appetite suggests, Charles Mingus, “Passions of a Man: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1956-1961)
Why? “A library of captivating jazz masterpieces to play throughout the day.”

I could agree with this one, I love Mingus, and can think of no one better to draw out long flat or sharp notes.

I would also suggest A Prairie Home Companion, a Sunday show on NPR, not because I listen to it, but because it is always on! I have no clue how long this show is supposed to go, but I swear my local NPR station plays it from 10 am on Sunday, till god knows when. Seems appropriate for braising.

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