Let's Talk: Cooking

Good Morning (or night or afternoon, wherever you are, whenever you read this)! This post / email is for those who want something fun to read. Hope you stick until the end!

These past few weeks, I have been talking a lot about some of the phases I have experienced, and some details of those phases. This week, I would like to talk about something that’s a bit more like a hobby than a phase—cooking.

I love cooking. I started cooking when I was young (I don’t know exactly when). Basically, my family and all their weirdness influenced me into having to cook. My younger sibling prompted us, older siblings, to have to cook dinner for the family, and over time, it became quite enjoyable. It all started with my younger sibling who liked cooking food. Because of this, my parents thought it would only be natural for us, older siblings to be able to cook like said youngest child. That was most definitely not the case, and still not the case (I consider myself unable to cook). However, it was probably the only real chore we had, and it ate up at our time a lot. The food was at least edible 😅 .

I lack common common sense. I suppose cooking really made that transparent. I would be confused how to make something, and my younger sibling would say, “you do it like [this and that]. No duh.” So I guess I really lack common sense, however, my younger sibling is a fairly okay teacher whenever I ask them how I should be making a specific food. Not the greatest, but it does the job and the food turns out okay, as long as I follow instructions (or better yet, if I remember the instructions). A lot of the food I made was the same every week, which is perhaps not the greatest way to improve my cooking skills, however, it was easy on my mind, and easier to make. I did, however, expand my field of culinary at a turtle’s pace, making new food every month or so, so that was fun.

I liked cooking because I cooked things I loved. If I didn’t like something about that dish, I could change it into something I actually liked. If that didn’t work (or if I lacked creativity), I could just not make it again (though my siblings might cook that thing and force it down my throat. Y’know. It might’ve happened). I believe the first thing I learned to cook with my lack of common common sense was pasta. It’s pretty easy to make, as long as you don’t have two different pasta noodles to make (my fault, haha). Another dish I learned how to make pretty early on was curry. Perhaps it was due to the instant broth-ish curry pack we had in our fridge almost all the time, when I was younger, we ate curry a lot, and it was extremely easy to make (and tasted good). As we grew up, we stopped eating curry, perhaps due to our parents not buying those instant curry packs anymore, and therefore, making curry becoming a chore. I still enjoy eating curry, so I hope I can learn how to make the broth (or seasoning or sauce. Whatever you call it).

The one thing I will complain—and continue complaining—about our childhood home is the kitchen. It worked, yes, however, the fridge was replaced around 5 times, the stove oven was half broken, and why was there even that broken dishwasher that wasted space down there? Okay, well, it wasn’t that bad, and I wouldn’t even complain about it had I not been thinking about it. The kitchen worked, and there were one too many plates and bowls we didn’t use often that took up the cabinet space. Yes, the dishwasher no one used was a waste of space, and yes the stove oven was half broken and the oven even stopped working, but life went on, food was cooked, and we really should’ve gotten a renovation but we were too broke to (or something). Despite all my complaints (and all the complaints I can come up with, had someone asked me to do so) about our childhood home kitchen, it was still comfortable to cook in. Though the oven not working did drive me nuts for half an hour before I aborted the mission and resorted to the toaster oven and air fryer. But that was for baking, not cooking, so it shouldn’t count 🤫 .

I love cooking, but my cooking is not the best in the world. In fact, I would not be able to cook if you were to drag me to over half the restaurants in the world and told me to cook. I would freeze up and perhaps throw up. One of the things I love about my parents, especially my father, is their diet. My father is kind of vegan, kind of not because being ‘vegan’ is a choice—or something. Looking at his allergies, I suppose he is vegan, so let’s talk as though he is a normal vegan (even though it was not his choice). I love how my mother accommodated so that the whole family ate whatever my father ate, though I believe it was more because it would have been a whole lot more trouble not to do so. Basically, you could say I was raised a vegetarian. This affected my cooking as well. I could not cook meat, even if you forced me to. I didn’t know how to (my lack of common common sense restricted my ability), nor did I want to know how to. I didn’t see it, nor do I see it now, as an inconvenience, and I actually enjoy the problem-solving and creative process that comes with making a dish vegan. When I see the stereotypical vegan meal, I just laugh. It’s actually funny how, some people trying out veganism, limit what they can eat when they can actually eat really good food. Being vegan does not necessarily mean the food is healthy, sorry to burst any bubbles out there. I will end this section here as I could go on for long on this topic, so I’ll probably write about this another week, so stay tuned for that if you’re interested 😉 .

I momentarily touched on my first few dishes I learned to make. Those two dishes were probably the odd ones out. I didn’t learn, nor was I interested in Italian culinary, nor Indian culinary. In fact, I believe the curry that I learned to make was a different version that my mother made, from a different country that wasn’t India. I believe the first country’s cuisine I learned to cook a lot of was Japanese cuisine. Of course, modified, since they use a lot of fish in their cuisine. They have really good food, and I would probably go to Japan for it’s food, if only there weren’t so many fish and MSG in their food 😅 . The next country who’s cuisine I explored was perhaps Korean cuisine. My younger sibling started to make, I liked it, so I started trying to make something similar. Though it was only Tteokbokki and Bibimbap. Who knows if that counts, or if those are just an odd ball again. It’s really good, for anyone who wants something good and easy to make 😉 . Again, these are modified versions (so much fish in their cuisine 😅 ). Currently, I am into Mediterranean dishes, and making these things have been a joy. It has taught me a lot, and they have so much good food. And yes, I go learn at a turtle’s pace.

As mentioned before, I love cooking, and pinpointing exactly when I started cooking is hard. However, I believe it was around the big fat middle of my Anime and Manga phase. Cooking started off as a chore, then transformed into a mix of a chore and a hobby. I cooked during all my other phases, and I enjoyed the seemingly limitless amount of dishes and ways to cook that seemed out in the world. It has stayed constant in my life, and cooking is one of the things that I appreciate my parents for forcing us to take up. Baking is…well, another story, but we aren’t talking about that today 😅 .

If there is anything you take away from this newsletter that you can implement into your own life (if you enjoy cooking), it would be the existence of Mise en Place, if you’ve never heard about it. I’ve been enjoying cooking more since I found out about it’s existence and learning about it. I’m not a master at it, and I only have a vague understanding as to what it is, so I suggest you consult the internet for this 😅 . To begin, I believe this blog is a good place to start (I know I’m so irresponsible 😶‍🌫️ ): https://www.webstaurantstore.com/blog/2886/what-is-mise-en-place.html. Have fun reading!

Thanks for sticking this long, and I hope you have a great week! 😁 

I want some feedback: Do you like these topics? Anything else you want to send me is much appreciated. Thanks for reading, and I hope it was worth your while 😄 Please tell me something about your favorite food to cook (if you want), and remember, you’re awesome! If you want, sign up to my weekly newsletter (if you haven’t already). Link down below! Email: [email protected]