We are what we eat. From high-calorie meals to low-fat lunches, much of our health depends on what we eat. We all know about the benefits of eating properly for our physical health, but food—and cooking it—is proving to be good for our mental well-being as well.

Some people are now advocating the therapy value of cooking food. It’s not just about the end result but the experience we go through. Dr Mark Salter told BBC: “Baking and cooking are good therapies that help develop planning skills, short-term memory and social skills-all of which suffer in mental illness.”

TV chef and author Nadiya Hussain agrees that cooking is great for helping our mind. She loves to bake and became the champion of the TV show, The Great British Bake Off . “Baking has always been about therapy. It’s never really been about the cake”, she said. And she thinks that baking is an important tool for our socialization and mental health.

Certainly, creating delicious food has helped take our mind off things and given us something to do. People have said that preparing dough to make bread, for example, has given them a sense of calm and control. Research has shown that doing creative tasks, like cooking, makes us feel happier. Nicole Farmer, who studies how food impacts our biology, behaviour and mental health, told BBC online that “cooking represents the shared human experience of food, and nurturing people through food, so I think that’s where it brings us an opportunity for immediate positive emotions.”

Of course, cooking can be a very sociable activity and sharing the end result, a rewarding experience. Hopefully, as we start to mix with friends and family again, we can enjoy the benefits once more and put us all in the right frame of mind.

Do you enjoy eating a nice piece of a cow? Or pig back meat? Chances are that you do, though you’re more likely to call these dishes beef and bacon. But why do the words for these animals change after they’re killed and served? And why does this change only happen with certain meats?

To answer these questions, we have to step back almost 1,000 years into the past, as the current saying is that this linguistic phenomenon (语言现象) results from the Norman invasion (侵略) of England.

In 1066, the Old French-speaking Normans took control of the Anglo-Saxons, who spoke Old English. The Norman rulers used different measures of oppression (压迫的措施), but they also introduced their language. They used French words for the meat that appeared on their tables. Meanwhile, the Old English words were still used by the Anglo-Saxons who farmed and raised the animals. Such was the Norman influence on England that their terms for meat have always been there as part of the modern English language for cuisine (烹饪).

It’s not just adult cows that got a new name after they were killed and prepared for Norman dinners. A young cow is called a “calf”, and this word comes from Old English. However, the animal is changed into “veal” after it is cooked.

Besides the word pig, which, like cow, has Old English origins (来源), the Anglo-Saxons used to use the word “swine” for these animals. Both became pork when the Normans ate their meat, though.

Chicken is one of several exceptions. While the Normans used the French word poulet for chicken meat, this became “pullet” in English. This word is only really used by chicken farmers. No one is quite sure why this happened! Here’s another exception, as fish is fish regardless of whether it’s swimming in a river or appearing on a dinner table. One possibility for why the French word poisson has never entered the English language is that it’s too close to “poison” — something no one wants to eat!

Whatever your tastes are, it is highly unlikely that many of you are using 3D printers to create your favorite meals. Still, anyone interested in the future of food can find technologists printing out snacks, from steaks to cakes, at the push of a button. Now laser cooking has arrived and it is adding an entirely new layer of gourmet (美食家) taste.

Columbia’s Creative Machines Lab team is hoping to build a digital personal chef to deliver taste, materials, and food to suit individual tastes. So far their experiments with chicken have created laser-cooked examples that have the same flavor as cooking, but use 50 percent fewer ingredients, and have the double content.

“In fact, our two blind taste testers preferred laser-cooked meat to the conventionally cooked samples, which shows the promise for this burgeoning technology,” said project leader James Blutinger. Scientists are working to promote this technology.

Creating software that would allow chefs to make their own designs—a Photoshop of food—is the next step. “We need high-level software that enables people who are not programmers to design the foods they want,” said group leader Hod Lipson. “And then we need a place where people can share digital directions as they share music.”

All of this could well change the way we think about and eat food. High on the list of positives is the fact that printed food can be healthier, lessen the environmental impact of food production—especially red meat—and cut waste.

Global food waste hit almost one billion metric tons in 2021. So future companies that turn food waste into tasty dishes and food decorations—like Natural Machines or Upprinting Food—are a welcome development. As food printing becomes more widespread, we may see instant printed and recycled meals as the dietary solution we were looking for.