Food is an integral part of our identity because it not only nourishes our mind, body and soul but also represents the culture and creativity of a country and hence is the best way to decipher the intricacies and philosophies of various nationalities. I have always been a foodie so I have a natural predilection towards cooking but the process and the techniques have always intimidated me. My rendezvouz with cooking started with the dawn of my career. The day I completed my higher studies, I knew that I had to be independent in all spheres then onwards. My professional career commenced in Chennai so I took up a PG accommodation at Kilpauk, close to my office. Although, the landlady served meals on a payment basis I decided to save that money and instead challenged myself to start cooking. Because of the time constraint during the wee hours of the day, my breakfast used to comprise of ready-to-eat stuff like bread, butter/jam and cheese plus a beverage like tea/coffee/milk/juice instead of cooked food. I used to carry a fruit to work, which would cater to my midday cravings. I thankfully got wonderful South Indian meals for lunch at my office cafeteria. It was again on a paid basis but Sodexo coupons being one of the perks at work, were quite handy at the cafeteria. Dinner had to be prepared by me so I started with taking some guidance from my mother. My mother would let me know of a few vegetarian recipes primarily Dals (grains) and veggies. Till then, I never had looked at masalas (spices) the way I look at them today. It was difficult to differentiate between the multifarious masalas. I know, an expert can do it with the help of sight and smell but it was a daunting task for me. Also, to comprehend the taste that these masalas would impart to the dish was all the more difficult. I started with Dal n simple Zeera Aloo (Spiced potatoes). Chapati (Wheat Pancake) was a distant dream for me so I made rice everyday. The initial experimentation led me to at least understand the use of the plethora of spices that Indian cooking has. I remember buying my first 'Masaal Daan' (Spice Box) to keep all the masalas handy and also because I was told that masalas if kept in loose packets tend to lose their strength and aromas with time. With the masaal daan in hand, I started feeling like an expert. Since, it was the experimentation phase of my culinary skills, there were good days and bad days too. But as they say 'Mistakes are the portals of discovery'- I eventually decided to perfect myself in this art because with time I had realized that cooking not only proved to be a stress buster for me but also equipped me with higher self-confidence. It had lateral advantages attached to it- Since I was managing my meals on my own, I had to take care of my pantry too. This undertaking made me quite adept at calculating the amount of grocery that I needed on a monthly basis plus I became vigilant enough to carefully manage my left-overs and avoid wastage. I realized that being independent does not only mean having a solid financial background but it also involves many other spheres with cooking being one of the most important assets that we can acquire. I decoded the importance of masalas and various techniques that we generally use while cooking. I got married after a few months and my husband and I shifted to Dubai. Initially, I was not working so I decided to totally absorb the wonders of cooking. I took recipes off the net, watched videos, started watching reality shows like MasterChef and eventually inculcated the confidence that cooking aficionados have. During the first 3 to 4 months while I was not working, I did a pretty decent job with cooking. But once I started with my job, I barely got time to cook. Although I made it a point to experiment every now and then but I could not really indulge in a full-fledged cooking. 5 years down the line, I am a home-maker again. I have got plenty of time on my hands now. I take pride in saying that I independently host dinner/lunch parties today. I have a pretty good fan-base in my friends' circle and I share my recipes with all of them. I bake, roast, fry, saute- I may not be a professional chef but I am definitely a seasoned chef today and there are people who can testify to it :) I now find cooking as a blank canvas which can be improvised to create our own masterpieces with the ingredients and techniques providing us with the much-needed flavors.
Well, I have seen people who are intimidated by the very idea of cooking. They are the virgins of the cooking world and are scared to take that step into this amazing world of flavors. My advice to them is that it is all worth it. It is wonderful to be able to cook because it creates a sense of happiness and satisfaction for ourselves as well as for our family and friends. Food has a language of its own and it is the best way to show your warmth and affection towards someone. The flavors and the effort reflects our love and care. And for all those who trivialize cooking when compared to other jobs have not realized the value of it. They may belittle the art and may not give it the due importance but they tend to forget that food is about tales and conversations- A lot can happen over a meal. It is an indispensable part of our lives so we should all equip ourselves with this art, as this not only represents us and our feelings but our culture and hospitality too.
