Even as a child though I didn’t know how to, the idea of cooking always delighted me. I knew I could cook. I knew when I’ll get a time to do some cooking, I will rock and I have in my opinion. You can take my husband’s opinion if you must. I am sure he will tell at least 3 or 4 dishes that I cook best. Every day after work we (me & my hubby)call up each other on our way back home asking one another, whats for dinner? We discuss and accordingly we purchase whatever is required to prepare our dinner on the way. I started cooking about 2 years back. I had finished my PG and I had amble time to try out cooking which I always wanted to. Because I was in boarding and hostels most of my life I didn’t find much time to cook.
Well I have no professional training what so ever in cooking. Because I am so fond of cooking, I always watched cookery shows on television. From traditional Indian cooking to Chinese, European, Moroccan, Caribbean, name any cuisine; I would like to cook all kind. But sadly I have not yet eaten anything beyond continental, Chinese, Arabic and Indian. I am eager to put into practice whatever knowledge I have accumulated in the past in Thai, European, Moroccan and Caribbean cuisine.
Cooking has become a passion for me. Even if I am not cooking anything special but some ordinary dishes from our everyday life which I have been eating since my childhood, I love every minute of it. I have heard and seen many people who either don’t like cooking or they don’t know how to cook. I never had a doubt when it came to learning cooking nor did I ever tell anyone that I do not know cooking. I always said I can cook. Because like I said before I knew it in my heart that I could cook.
Recently I watched a movie called “Julie & Julia” which is based on real life story of a young woman who was really passionate about cooking and I realized how much I love cooking as equally as this person from the movie. I knew about this movie when it got released and I have been waiting for a chance to watch it and I loved every single moment of it. And now you know the reason why, because the movie is all about cooking with heart and soul.
Cooking like any other art form is not only relaxing but transforming. It is an art and a science as well, no argument in that. What matters to me is that it is a creative form which enables us to experiment. There are 2 things I love the most when it comes to cooking, one is cutting vegetables and second one is sautéing. These two simple things are involved in almost cooking anything.
There are so many techniques in cooking. I know few theoretically and a few in practice. I want to learn cooking more seriously. But I cannot imagine myself working as a professional chef or something. Well it is not my cup of tea and I am sure my skills are not cut out for that world.
My one and only rule in cooking is cooking healthy food. But cooking healthy has its restrictions. Once in a while I indulge myself in cooking as well as in eating some heavy items and I do not feel guilty for it. If food is not to be enjoyed we are missing out so much in life and I believe that.
I would like to use the freshest ingredients possible. I am just an ordinary person. I do not own a farm. I do have plans for building a small vegetable garden back home, once I settle down over there. So when I say I like to use the freshest ingredients possible I want to, but all I am using right now is what I get from market. It would be a wonderful experience to grow our own vegetables, poultry everything from scratch. But it is time consuming and I know if I want that dream to come true. I should stop working at office and start working as a farmer. Well I am not sad, I know there will come a time when I will become a farmer too in life.
This just reminded me of an important thing about careers. I have always heard people talking about career planning. And most of them I know have lived their whole life doing just that one job over 3 or 4 decades or even more. Why can’t we have more than one career in this one life? The television show “One life to Live” explains exactly the same thing which I have wanted to do. In that show one expert says, every man in the beginning of his youth wants earn for a living, so that becomes his primary goal. So we all want to be financially independent, so we all work in places with people from where we can earn the most. And in our mid-life say 40 years onwards or so just making money doesn’t motivate us. We want to do more than that we want to enjoy what we do and we want to do something we enjoy not for the sake of money but for our mental satisfaction, something that will enlighten us. It is during these times, we see most people who have had everything going on for them, life well settled. Good house, car, job, wanting to do something entirely different from what they have been doing their whole life. Some even talks about wanting to sell off their properties and live a much meaningful and simple life doing something they love, even if it is a low paying job. This is a natural state the expert say. As we grow older we want to be more close to nature, God etc.
So I have also planned my career similarly. Till I need to financially support my family I will continue with what I have been doing. I am fairly good in writing, photography and cooking. I want to take up a course in mass communication or journalism, may be a crash course in photography and read few books on cooking and take up gardening etc. after my 40s or so.
Coming back to what we were discussing, there is no one whom you cannot please with food. So cooking can be a greatest asset for anyone who has interest. For those who really want to impress the men or the woman in their life learn cooking. As old as the saying goes “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”, it that much re-instates the truth that all men love eating good food.
For beginners who hate cooking; think of it like this. Cooking is not a job, think of cooking like a must thing like breathing, eating, bathing or sleeping. Of course eating is must otherwise we cannot survive. So cooking is a survival skill rather than a job or a responsibility. That’s how I thought. Cooking can be taken as a job; those who cook always earn respect from others. You may not remember every folk who have invited you for dinner, but surely you will remember a hand that fed you good food.
Food is part of celebration of life in every culture. Let it be birthdays to weddings, New Year celebration, festivals, anniversary, new-job etc., we all celebrate with food. For those who are interested and want to learn; cooking can be a mesmerizing experience for you. It can cleanse you from the inside and gives you that feeling of bliss when you are able to create something out of scratch and present it before others to enjoy. There’s no better feeling than that. That’s the most sensuous and beautiful thing about cooking. We always cook for others, not just for ourselves. It is a self-less act. Of course we cook for us too, but cooking is about sharing. So unless you share what you have cooked with others; it isn’t complete. There are many specialties about cooking. One very important thing that I can tell you is this, it is the only art that can influence all your senses, you can smell, taste, touch, see and even hear what’s been cooking. When you come home tired after a long day’s work, a good meal can replenish you like anything. The moment you enter the house the pleasing smell of your favorite dish will make you forget all your day’s hard work.
If you ask me what’s chef Elanto’s specialties. I make scrumptiously delicious China Grass Pudding, my mom’s recipe, which can never disappoint a soul. Ghee Rice again my mom’s recipe, which I gave my own style to it. It is light on your stomach and can make you want to eat more and more. Chicken is my weakness. So I make variety of chicken curries. Pepper mushroom and Cauliflower soy are my two other specialties. My Idiyappams and Palappam’s are white and fluffy like doves. I know this is a bit self-praising but I am being brutally honest in here. You can always check with my better half, who gets to enjoy my pleasant cooking. My stew (veg and chicken) compliments the Appams into perfect marriage of flavors and textures. I am waiting to buy an Oven, so I can start baking all my favorite cakes, cookies, chicken roasts, grills, pizzas, lasagnas, tarts, keesh etc. The list is endless
When I watch all these top shows about cooking, I hear them saying a lot about seasoning, flavoring, textures, many techniques like braising, poaching, blanching, searing, etc. I wonder did our mothers and grandmothers know what they are technically called. I guess not. But still they made excellent home cooked food. So cooking is not so much about knowing big jargons or making food that has many techniques involved like French cooking. Not that these things are not important. But cooking should always be done with love. “Cook food, Serve Love” that should be our motto.
For young aspirants out there to whom being told especially girls by their mothers the need to learn cooking as we are one day to become home makers, do not learn cooking just because your mother told you to or just because it is your responsibility to do so. Learn it for the sake of learning it just like how eager you may be interested in learning dancing or music or painting for cooking is equally an art. Do not treat learning cooking to be a lame thing or a thing of the past. As long as we need to eat, somebody has to cook. In today’s world everyone talks about wanting to be independent. So learning cooking also becomes a part of being independent.
My name is Elsa and I am really passionate about cooking!!!
