Food. It means different things to different people. And what of cooking? Some hate it. Others are coaxed to do it just for the sake of it. There is little doubt that it holds a special place in every household. You agree, don’t you?
For me, cooking is relaxation, enjoyment, the road to immediate gratification. The science amazes me. The blend of spices, the outcome of its mixture, the aroma, texture, taste…everything is magical. Many make it to be a treacherous task. Its like knowing how to fit the words into a raga and if you know music well its effortless. It’s a very subtle art actually…cooking.
My dream is actually to have a well equipped workplace, utensils, ladels, knives, spices, vegetables, fresh and cold storages, meat, et all. I visualize it in two ways, one…a huge kitchen with flowing hot and cold water and the works…but very personal. Another has to be on the beach somewhere…a round working place, rustic but well equipped…a dream that I share with my boy, Mohnish. The beach place is actually a commercial venture and I like the idea of having only beer with the type of the food that would be dished out.
With the wink of the eye and a chuckle, one says…”I know, it will turnout good!” after every experiment. Hmmm!!…..ummmm!!….yummmm!!…oh! wow….damn!....holy s..t!!….good heavens!! Give a mouthful to taste and hear these and many such swears!! There’s much a do about all this…so…
Well as time went by and so to say my cooking was appreciated, like every cooks heart would yearn to see satisfied and satiated faces…smiling yet cursing themselves to have gorged more than they should have!! So with me…I have never had the inkling to follow a recipe other than the one needed to make a perfect blend of powder such as, chutney powders of our south India. For that matter even garam masala can be made according to one’s taste and need to what’s cooking.
The intuitiveness to know the steps to adding ingredients, more than attentiveness it is the mind talk you have with what’s cooking, the complete involvement, your 100%, your vibes matter a lot…therefore you sometimes wonder why food tastes different when the same is cooked by two different people!
Now, allow me to say that in Indian cooking, jeera and mustard seeds actually don’t make sense in adding them to a seasoning together as they wary in their flavoring to the food… they are very distinct in their nature. Similarly, the most abused garam masala can be avoided in a coconut based fish curry as the taste of the fish itself is lost in the load of masala that’s added to it. For that matter curry leaves bring in that zing that’s required for a simply cooked vegetable or ‘subji’ as popularly called in
Have you ever thought why do we as Indians need to have seasoning for our cooking? Why do we use say… turmeric or coriander seeds in our cooking? Is it that we follow our predecessors blindly or do we understand what we are throwing into the pan? Nowhere in the world would they know that ingredients of the garam masala produce heat in the body. It is the spice mainly of the north of
The palates of people are so abused that, one thinks what is made in a restaurant is more authentic than what is cooked at home!!
Asha S Saraswat
Very insightful!
ReplyDeleteFood yum tum rum. Succinct flavours, distinct aromas, play of colours. Magic created by cooking. I wish more people would appreciate and stir fry their prejudice about cooking. Every individual has a different rationale, distinct 'hisaab' of herbs, spice and salt, even before they've tasted the broth. I think cooking is one of the few ways where you can judge a person. Is he/she steadfast or flexible? sweet or saucy? a generalist or idealist? slow and steady or fast and furious? It might be a good idea to allow your date to toss some delight while you get to know them.
ReplyDelete;)