Cooking Trends in the Pandemic It’s a common refrain that people have formed a new bond with their kitchens during the pandemic. In the early days, as restaurants closed and many of us lost jobs or started working from home, my Twitter feed was abuzz with interest in the kinds of slow kitchen projects that keep you ducking in and out of the kitchen all day. Suddenly there was abundant time at home to simmer a slow-cooking pot of beans or bake sourdough.