I work in an office environment as a software developer in Massachusetts, USA and every so often have some colleague ask me a question like "what's cooking? anything good?"
When they say that they are usually standing next to my desk, waiting for me to reply.
These individuals are not managers or anyone who would be looking for a status update, and typically the sort of work stuff I do is not really all that exciting to talk about (unless maybe someone is fascinated by the nuances of some software work, but I do not think that is what these people really want to know).
Besides, I come from a northern European culture where small talk has not been really common (I'm from Finland), I typically do not really have much going on that I think would be interesting to those who ask this question. So as a result I give them an answer like "nothing, really". But that sounds a bit awkward (or perhaps even a tad pessimistic sounding because I sometimes wonder if they expect my life to be exciting). So I was wondering how do native English speakers answer this kind of question?
(Side note: I do not think this is similar to the other commonly asked-about question "How are you …" as that one can just be answered with a simple "fine, how about yourself" etc.)
Best Answer
"What's cooking" means "what's going on?" or perhaps more specifically "what are you working on?"
According to this it dates from the 1940s. The meaning comes from asking someone what is cooking on the stove, and consequently what should I expect in the near future, however, it has generalized in common usage to a less specific meaning of "what's going on" without necessarily an expectation of a future result.
As to what to answer; mostly this is a rhetorical phrase much as "how are you" and it isn't necessarily a specific solicitation for information, it tends to be used as a general social greeting. If someone was looking for something more specific they would probably ask a more specific question such as "what are you working on", or "what new projects have you got going on."
Even though it is used for you in the context of work, it really shouldn't be considered to apply only to that. It is a social question, so probably includes you social and personal life too, unless it is more specific.
So on its own "nothing much" or something similar is perfectly acceptable. It is generally more of a conversation starter.