As a young boot in the Navy, normally the first job you have when assigned to a ship or sub, as a rite of passage, is mess cooking. It consists of participating in all phases of feeding the troops; swabbing the mess area, cleaning utensils and cookware, serving chow, and occasionally participating in creatively food preparation. Mess cooking was also used as a form of punishment when you FU on your normal job assignment, as I sometimes did. Looking back it was all good and necessary training. Unfortunately it instilled within me a lifelong no-joy attitude for expending any effort preparing raw materials that qualify as exquisite human cuisine. Kudos to those chefs who do and enjoy, but I don't cook. Never will.