Whats Cooking?

rgsrinivasan · Jul 31, 2018

I just remembered this hilarious conversation from Tom and Jerry . Many of us would have experienced this early in our life except those unlucky few, who get a chance pretty late because of not having a choice or just end up on the "served" side. Cooking perhaps is one of the essential life skills that one needs to have, in my opinion. As the youth of yesteryear's generation, I too had the privilege of things being served straight to wherever I was and at times, I should shamelessly admit, being served again afresh as I was lazy in consuming it. Perhaps one of the many things taken for granted, guys like us didn't really care about what food is served and how, till a point.

I grew up to be a foodie, ate like a glutton and was being appreciated for that too, and was more and more refined in my taste as the days went by. That I could spot the mistake by the smell of the food and didn't hold myself for even a tiny flaw that I found in any of my dear one's cooking were also appreciated, as I was giving my "direct" opinion. Fast forward to my late twenties, I took my first onsite trip. Till that time, I knew how to make coffee / tea, boil milk and make somewhat round dosa. As I had my first day's sleep [I landed in the middle of the day, crashed right after reaching the hotel room, utterly exhausted] and woke up. The world was in a multi-color hue then, making me wonder if it were a dream. I just brushed and waited for my coffee before realizing that I was left there all myself. Tapping my head, I ransacked the little hotel room to find the kettle and some instant coffee powder packets nearby.

It took a minute to understand what "creamer" meant. After spending considerable amount of time in making a cup of a coffee like something, I realized how addicted I was to coffee, alarmingly. I sipped my first coffee and felt like throwing up. I somehow managed that night with the pack of biscuits and a couple of soft drinks. The next morning, I was supposed to report early, so kept an alarm, woke up early and came to know that my office was about just 8 blocks away. Appreciating my travel colleagues for the first time for booking me in that budget hotel, I went to the reception and asked what I could get for breakfast, at 7 AM. Cursing my colleagues and everyone again, after getting a response that breakfast will be served only by 8 and if I needed, I crossed the not so busy road to get in to a small food joint that was busy. They were serving all kinds of things and any and everything looked non-vegetarian to me. "Can you show me some vegetarian dishes?", I asked. "Vegan?", the middle aged man asked. I nodded, being confused. "What does he mean? Fine! Need to at least gulp something! If nothing is available, at least they serve some juice!", I thought. Finally I sat down with a plate of Mexican baked beans and a cup of juice that were so exorbitantly priced [it was just my first trip and I was converting dollar to Indian rupee for every purchase I made then].

Within two days, I found that I cannot just survive without my kind of food and a week or so later, all the bread, tacos, pizzas, quesadillas and burritos were all tasting the same - bland. I was and still am grateful to my friends who had to cook for me as well and stayed closer to them, so I can have my breakfast and dinner. Money was not an issue, but I was hellbent on learning to cook, at least for myself. So, when three of us took an apartment sooner, I was looking for some simple recipes to start with. One of us was an excellent cook then, but never showed his "one up-manship" in that. Thanks to potatoes and onions at first and to tomatoes, ladies finger and brinjal later, I managed to cook at least for myself during week-ends. With sambar / rasam powder, I could make one dish and the side dish to anything that I made then, was Lays Potato Chips. Sure it felt wonderful when I could cook my first palatable potato dish. My friends accepted what I tried, with grace and I felt happier each time when I cooked, as it felt like coding my "Hello World!" or riding a bicycle without support.

I found that cooking is definitely an art worth spending time for, but there are a lot of options available today, one may say. Its true and except for those who have no time for cooking, I would still prefer to cook [even if it is just a bachelor's food, containing just one main dish and based on easy recipes]. To me, it gives a state of focus, right from choosing and washing the vegetables, cutting them up [till this day, each piece is of a different shape than others], and cooking them. And there is no second thing to serving your good food to others. Though I knew only a little and accomplished even lesser, I consider my cooking for a couple of my hungry friends who paid an unexpected visit on a Sunday, late in the afternoon, as one of the best things I did. Perhaps when you are hungry, anything tastes good, may be. I also understood why mothers and cooks in general, eat so less of what they cook, in general. They primarily derive a lot more satisfaction in cooking for others. The very truth that you can give something to others is felt acutely in this and you feel a lot more elated. There is one catch though. If you know that you are good at it, you may tend to be complacent while doing it or arrogant to those who are not at "your" level. I did have that experience too, with another senior person who is an excellent cook. I did learn about how to keep your things ready before you start cooking, how to simultaneously clean the place while cooking and of course cooking two or more dishes at the same time from him. When I went back for my first vacation, I was just amazed, seeing my mother who was in mid sixties cook with an effortless ease. I could still recollect the days when she cooked breakfast, packed 8 lunch boxes [6 for the kids, one for herself and one for my cousin who stayed with us] and did all this in under 40 minutes or so. "Won't you measure things?", I asked her. "It all comes in practice!", she said, moving on.

Salute to those who are continuously serving others!

kkrish · Jul 31, 2018

@rgsrinivasan
My vocabulary deserts me every-time I am overwhelmed with praise in my mind.
So please settle with, "That a was wonderful write up, rgs"... and replace this statement with any kind of superlative compliments you wish.

I will come back with a longer response later. I want to read this lovely article again, leisurely.

messedup · Jul 31, 2018

Very well said. Cooking is inevitable. I still remember when I was small never did any sort of thing in the kitchen my mom once told me to boil the potato and I kept that without water. I was always feckless of almost everything. When I grow up I started cooking sometimes but not with any expertise. I learned some tips and tricks only after marriage. Still there is much more to learn as I know just the basic. But still whenever kids like the food made by me I feel the gratification.

Viswamitra · Jul 31, 2018

Dear RGS,

Necessity is the mother of invention and the Indian men learn cooking out of need than dedicating themselves for cooking voluntarily. My experience is the same. I was the second and last child in our family and hence mostly the cooking when my mother is not around was either done by my father or older brother. But I was a big help in getting things they ask and observed what they put into cook delicious dishes. Later it all came back to my mind.

I moved lock stock and barrel to the US with my wife and son together. However, whenever my wife decides to stay a little longer in India, I had to bring my son with me and also manage cooking for him instead of feeding him food from outside. Hence, I recollected all my young age experience of observing the cooking of my mother, father and brother and experimented my cooking. It clicked very well. My son proudly told his mom that his dad is an excellent cook on her return.

Even now, I cook at least 2-3 times a week as my MIL likes my food. Thanks to @justanothergirl, I cooked Thengai, Mangai, Pattani, Sundal for Guru Poornima celebration in our spiritual center for 35 people. Frankly, it looks like I cooked for 50 but most people packed and taken it home.

I realized the importance of enjoying the details of everything involved in cooking including, washing the vegetables, cutting them to right size, adding ingredients without measuring, boiling/frying them for the right time, seasoning, etc. It is a fulfilling experience to watch the happy face of my MIL and my wife when they take the sample I give.

Viswa

iyerviji · Jul 31, 2018

Excellent write up RGS. I was not much interested in cooking before marriage.i was married to a family where men and women all expert in cooking. I learnt cooking from my husband .it seems at the age of eight his mother asked to grind for sambar. She used to ask what all you grinded for which he used to say whatever you and he got a kuttu from his mother for not seeing

In inlaws house they never keep a cook,they used to do themselves. Now also for shraddam and. Sumangali prarthanai he only cooks. His wife is no mote but he has a good Dil who is a Maharashtrian and has learnt everything.

While working my husband used to help. After retirement I used to.do alone and learnt many dishes. In office also my friends used like some dishes of mine. Now Google is there to help.

iyerviji · Jul 31, 2018

Thanks @messedup for the like

satchitananda · Jul 31, 2018

Dear RGS,

your post reminded me of one I had posted ages ago. It was about how I learned how to cook and my experiments with cooking. I totally agree with you, it is such a pleasure to see others eat and enjoy the food you cook. Nothing can give greater pleasure than that.

Now that Lady Anatole has been with me since more than 6 years, I rarely have an opportunity to cook, but I am not complaining. It's good to have her. It frees up a lot of time for me to go and do other things.

iyerviji · Jul 31, 2018

Thanks @Viswamitra for the like

poovai · Jul 31, 2018

Sir,

Your post reminds me of my son. Tired of outside foods, he started to cook by himself. Over time, he accumulated all sorts of fancy gadgets for his kitchen.

He often mocks my cooking at home; Even I didn't realized, he simplified my cooking skills into 3 dishes 1) Sambhar 2) kara kulambu 3) Veg Kurma

Any way, he can cook any kind of cuisine in his kitchen....guess, what he attempted in his kitchen? Sambhar and Rasam. He seems to be good in cooking Chinese, and all sort of fancy sea food varieties.

It shows that for a south Indians it doesn't matter where we grow up / what we are surrounded by - our taste buds are the same, unknowingly we crave for the taste of Sambhar, rasam. Now, he is saving my food recipes that 3-reciepes.

When I visit him, I usually stock up his freezer with Sambhar, Rasam / veg side dishes. Gracefully, he says that I cleaned up the freezer for you

My husband still cannot cook or do I like to keep him as my dishwasher boy?

kkrish · Aug 1, 2018

Congratulations on winning!

Your post reminded me also about my children.
While growing up they never liked sambar or rasam.
Once they went to college they clearly told they don't want any other food; only s
S.Indian. especially masala dosai and thayir saadam

So every vacation was spent in the kitchen teaching them basic S.Indian cooking.
Like @poovai I do marathon cooking when I visit them and pack the freezer and also pack food when they come home.

When my parents first visited my father had pizza one day and Subway sandwich another day. He commented, " this food is so nice, I cannot understand why people say they want Indian food". We kept quiet.
Some days later we went on a weeklong trip covering important places. Food was of course no sign of Indian. The day we returned I made thayir saadam with pickle. My father said that was the most delicious food he had the whole week. He finally understood.

Your post reminded me of this incident also.