Chef Pooh?
Author :
Pooh
Blog :Hodgepodge and Balderdash
Date: 6/18/2012 4:26:00 PM
And as promised, here I am. :) It does feel good to be back on the blog.. Not like I have things of earth shattering importance to share but still, its nice to be back to this space I call my own- a place where I can rant and muse and share and agonize over the most trivial of things and what not.
The past weekend saw me in full domestic godess mode. I have a new microwave at home and in like any true blue foodie, I proceeded to whip up a few culinary delights (shameless self- praise there, kindly ignore) for the family. After they had done all the customary oohing and aahing over said delights, my sister decided she had to simply have over a couple of friends for lunch on Sunday. Not that I was complaining. Yours truly does not let any opportunity to showcase her budding culinary skills pass by. So Sunday saw me in the kitchen again, proving my mastery over food. If you ask me about how said friends of the sister reacted to the cooking, I would say they said it was good. It could either be interpreted as stellar manners on their part or absolutely yummy cooking on mine. :) I prefer to think it was the latter. :) Sunday evening saw me in the kitchen yet again, whipping up my favourite dessert- warm chocolate cake with chocolate icing. A sizeable chunk was downed by the family and the rest was carted off by the sibling for her friends. So that was my weekend in a nutshell.
If I was reading the above paragraph on someone's blog a few years back, I would have wondered what kind of a person would voluntarily step foot in the kitchen and slog for hours to put a meal on the table. I just didn't get it back then. I come from a family of great cooks and yet, the cooking bug hadn't bit me. I never watched a single cookery show- in fact I found them indescribably boring. I always told everyone I knew I'd get someone to do all the cooking for me once I had a home of my own. Cut to right after I got married- stuck in a foreign land where getting a maid to come and clean up once a week cost me a mini fortune, and where the option of a full time cook was not even on the horizon, I had to roll up my sleeves and bravely foray into unchartered territory- the kitchen. The only experience I had in the kitchen before that was watching Mom cook. I knew what ingredients went into what curry but, the quantities and the balance were all lost on me. The initial days were crazy- trying to understand the perfect blend of spices and the time it took to cook something and what not. Even then, I was just content with understanding the basics of Mallu cooking.
That was also the time I was stuck at home without a job. I had nothing to do from the time S left for office and I had finished cooking for the day till he came back home at night. My only sources of entertainment were a handful of books, and the TV. And it was during one of the days I was flipping through channels that I stumbled upon a couple of channels- TLC and Food Network Asia. I watched a few shows just for the heck of it and before long, I was hooked. I was mystified at the apparent ease with which people conjured up fantastical dishes and I wanted to be like them. The advantage I had was that I was in SIngapore and any ingredient I wanted was readily available. I started watching shows, scouring websites, jotting down recipes and experimenting. Some went horribly wrong the first time. Others turned out perfectly. Some took me time to master and yet others still remain elusive. And in the middle of all this I realized that I had begun to enjoy the process. S, being the conssumate foodie was only too happy to encourage me. And thus was born a new version of me- the domestic Pooh. The one who loved to cook, and plate gorgeous looking food. The one who knew how to find the freshest of veggies and knew the right balance of spices, the one who took recipes and put her own twist on it. :)
I do not claim to be an expert- there are thousands, maybe millions of cooks better than me. But for me, this is a version of myself I never thought I would see or experience. I never expected to enjoy this whole process of cooking so much. I even thought of starting a blog with my recipes but then, decided against it. Like I said, there are so many better cooks out there. But I still love cooking. I love the excitement of trying out something new, love it when something I make turns out fine, love it when people compliment me on my food or even ask me for recipes. :) I am happy I was able to forget my initial apprehension about cooking and forge an amazing relationship with it. And now, every time I cook something, I think back to the person I used to be and think of the long journey I have made. I would say I still have a long way to go but now, I'm happy about it.
Do you guys have similar stories to share? :)
PS: I just realized that a lot of posts on this blog have to do with food. Heh.. Goes to tell how much of a foodie I am I guess. :)