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Andrew Vessel
Dr. Thomas Reynolds
English 2110. 03N
October 4, 2016
The Perfect Recipe: An Analysis of Rob Griffiths In the Kitchen
In the Kitchen by Rob Griffith, is a very interesting take on a seemingly normal task.
Full of similes and metaphors, some plainly show, it covers the subject of making soup. In this
case for a loved one or friend who the speaker cares very much about. The poem breaks the
imaginary fourth wall and takes us into reality in the second stanza by telling us where the
metaphors begin. The use of simile and imagery combined in In the Kitchen, give an
interesting way to show how one can bring light and clarity to another persons life.
The poem opens in the kitchen and the speaker is giving us the note of how challenging it
is to make this soup: Its a minor juggling act (1). This metaphor for cooking gives a sense that
the speaker is easily flustered and cannot handle many task at one time. The items or ingredients
for this act are then compared and contrasted using a simile about our chicken breast: a chicken
breast as ice-slick as any stone beside a winter stream (2-3). One may assume that the chicken
slipperiness is accountable to its freshness. Which could possibly give a clue to where we are. He
then continues to list out the ingredients and tools. A fistful of fresh carrots for the soup (4) is
the second item in hand by our speaker, hence to feel of juggling. We also can predict the carrots
are home grown or grown locally by them being fresh. Otherwise they would have been just
carrots, not fresh carrots. We may also assume the speaker might have bought all of these
ingredients to impress the person the soup is for. And on the counter, a cutting board, knife and

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pot (5), these items always go hand in hand with each other, which may be why the speaker
listed them together for us to visualize while reading. They want us to know and see what they
are looking at as to bring us in with them on this journey.
On the fifth line, the speaker gives a hint to who he truly is and how he operates: As if
preparing for the toss or measuring their weights, I raise one hand and then the other. (6). They
hold the chicken and carrots in such a way that it confuses our speaker on whether he should just
toss them into the pot or see if his measurements of spices or ingredients are correct but both of
their hands are full. What to drop or hold (8), questioning to put the chicken down and chop
carrots or vice versa. This entire stanza sets up the poem in way that a reader can easily tell what
is about to occur throughout the rest and gives subtle hints about our speaker.
Our second stanza, is where the fourth wall of our poem is broken and our speaker
addresses us directly: And here where all the metaphor kicks in (9). Once this wall is broken
and we are addressed directly, the mood or tone of the piece changes. It gets more real and sets a
somewhat more relaxed feel to it. Its almost as if the speaker is saying welcome to his world on a
much raised scale and the next line helps to break the wall more. where I cant help but chain
this simple still-life to something more profound (10). They then begin to piece everything
together in an attempt to clarify and almost make it easier for us as the reader to understand what
is happening. By piecing each phrase together, he describes making soup a still life photo but it is
much more than that to them. All of what he is doing has a much greater meaning that what it
may seem at first glance.
Next the speaker takes a moment to collect himself and: I place the chicken on a plate
then chop the carrots (11). We discover that they have completed the juggling act and made up
their mind on what step to do next. Thinking of all I hold against the stream of time (12)

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meaning that his next time could be crucial to other things is their life other than what is
happening now. They then call into play all of their relationships and they all have a deciding
factor is his main goal: love, friends, career even the present itself (13). Their love could may
possibly be themselves or the love of some else not mentioned in the piece or not yet spoken of.
Friends can also be a deciding factor due to a friend not approving of their decision or a friend
thinking of other alternative than the speakers decision. Its all too much for hands and heart that
greives (14), with all things being considered and also the making of soup still into play, its just
a lot to handle for just one person on their own.
We finally reach the end of poem and the speaker has another mood shift when his love
or somebody that brings light into his life enters the kitchen: Then you burst in, smiling and
smelling of rain (15). Next it reads And your umbrella sheds perfect stars all over the kitchen
(16) which translates to their lover enters the room with their umbrella dripping of rain water
which the speaker compares to the night stars. We will see the speaker compare this person to
light and things that are bright in this stanza. This person illuminates the kitchen which can be
taken as a metaphor for his life. The next line: Decisions disappear like steam above the soup
(17), meaning All of the speakers cares, whether it be about the soup, his friends, or his career all
flow away as he compares them to steam rising from the soup pot. This person seems to care a
lot for him and tends to light his life and blow all their cares and stress out the door. The final
line of this poem: And light reflects from every pot and every darkened window (18), shows
that when the lover has entered the kitchen or into the speakers life in general, there is clarity and
lights brought into the picture. The speakers mood in this stanza compared to the other two, was
far brighter and cheerier because of who they are speaking about, their lover.

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To conclude this essay, in this poem, we have seen our speaker go through multiple
moods and tones to show different effects the lover have on our speaker. Each stanza was written
to draw closer and closer to the main idea of our speakers mind. When one deciphers to
underlying meaning of each simile and the images in this poem, we see that there is more to life
than soup.

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Work Cited
Griffith, Rob. In the Kitchen. Literature: A Pocket Anthology. 6th ed. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. Boston:
Pearson, 2015. 586. Print.