It’s a love/hate relationship. Cooking is always a way of showing love.
But a real fascination started with the work itself. During my school days, I remember helping my Mom with peeling garlic, chopping onion( I love them, now I can chop them in 6 different ways) and other vegetables, etc. But cooking did not appeal me then. Liberty to light on fire and play with knives really worked for me in my teenage( to be precise, from my 9th standard)
It was my Mom! she is the only reason for my passion towards Cooking. She gave me chances to stir up the curry, add some ingredients to the recipes as it requires and she usually leaves the end part to me like switching off the fire once I feel like its over and transferring them to a serving bowl. I started having a clear picture in the usage of utensils, which is vital in cooking. What pan to use for what recipe. Slowly, I started to make my own dishes along with my Mom. She usually prepares the Curry and Rice whereas I make the veggies. After few trials, I started cooking for my entire family without anyone’s assistance. I was able to assume the taste of the food with their overall pace of eating (coz, they never said the dish is bad).
When I got better at it, I found that the combination of adrenaline and Overall aroma was almost like a drug. But that didn’t last all that long before I started to realize the gravity of cooking, of feeding someone. Whenever I went to my Grandma’s home I used be helping her in the kitchen. Her way of making the dishes are very different from my Moms. She moves very fast in the kitchen and the dishes are always on the fly all over the kitchen cabin. I felt she reverse engineered the dishes. My Mom used to add the spices in the pan while cooking any curry but my grandma mixed all the spices and made the solution ready before hitting the pan. I gained plenty of tricks and workarounds for a single end product. I was able to make something delicious even if I’m running low on food supply. I think that’s where I actually started to become passionate about cooking. Cooking allows me to be creative. And the end product is always satisfying.
Most of the important conversations with Mom happens while cooking. Some beliefs ‘Best Ideas Come in the Shower, to me it is my kitchen’. Food is tied to so many details of life. I considered going to cooking school when I finished my 12th, but I thought taking engineering sounded smarter. Sigh. Live and learn. It means the process of making ingredients come together to create something wonderful. Food alchemy. Music for the palate. Making food that makes people’s pupils dilate when they taste it for the first time. It’s a great stress buster and brings me lot of satisfaction.
The upside of being a pro in kitchen is, Grocery Shopping is always fun. Whenever I am discussing my interest towards cooking with my friends or close people, I can hear someone saying “Me too”. That’s the tip-off, the truth is ” No, they are not”. Just making scrambled egg and some posh fried dishes doesn’t show they are truly up to it. It takes plenty of responsibility and character. Along with a great sense of Flavor and taste which require several years of consistency with cooking and all it has to offer. It was not Love at first sight! When people say to me, “I love to cook, maybe I’ll open a restaurant”. I reply, “If you love to cook don’t try to monetize it”! You go from loving it to it becoming a job.
“Eating is a necessity, but cooking is an art”
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