The kitchen is a place where creativity can thrive, but that doesn’t mean it’s free from stress.

Even the most confident of chefs have faced a culinary disaster now and then. It could be anything from realizing an ingredient is missing halfway through a recipe, to being heavy-handed with the salt, to forgetting something in the oven. Even with the most foolproof recipes, cooking carries the risk of something going wrong. With some dishes, all it takes is a simple miscalculation to take it from delicious to borderline inedible. It is not something most of us think about every time we whip something up in the kitchen, which is just as well, as then the anxiety might get the better of us. 

There is no need to fret, as every single one of us is prone to mishaps now and then. Cooking memes provide a way to cope with the potential for culinary chaos, and maybe even get us to embrace it. They remind us that no matter our skill in the kitchen, we can still have things go wrong. Not only that, but occasionally they can even offer some inspiration in terms of new recipes to try (although many of them do not center around particularly appetizing meals). Eating is a necessity for everybody, but the level of care and creativity we bring to what we dish up is a personal choice. It may or may not be shaped by how willing we are to play with our food.