Cooking up a plan
Meaning
To devise or formulate a scheme or idea, often with a hint of cleverness or secrecy.
Origin
The phrase draws its zesty flavor from the kitchen, where a chef meticulously combines ingredients, follows a recipe, and applies heat to transform disparate elements into a delicious, cohesive meal. This vivid imagery of deliberate, often creative, preparation was perfectly suited to describe the methodical process of devising a scheme or strategy. Emerging prominently in the 20th century, "cooking up a plan" became a lively idiom to capture the ingenuity and foresight involved in combining ideas and resources, much like culinary components, to achieve a specific, often artful, objective.
Examples
- The team spent all night cooking up a plan to surprise their opponents in the championship game.
- Before the big presentation, she was busy cooking up a plan to secure funding for her innovative project.