How I learned to cook
My love for cooking grew out of my love for food. I remember waking up to the scent of my grandmother’s scrambled eggs freckled with onions and tomatoes or some noodles and wonderfully marinated (and tender!) pieces of flank steak soaked in beef broth. Sometimes after my mom brought us home from school the faint […]
My love for cooking grew out of my love for food. I remember waking up to the scent of my grandmother’s scrambled eggs freckled with onions and tomatoes or some noodles and wonderfully marinated (and tender!) pieces of flank steak soaked in beef broth. Sometimes after my mom brought us home from school the faint smell of meat, shitake mushrooms, vegetables and sesame oil greeted me, meaning my grandma had made fresh dumplings. A few years ago, however, her cholesterol skyrocketed, and she has refused to cook with oil anymore, making everything taste like paper.
To really become a high-class chef, Chris had to get his own herb garden.
From eggs to gourmet dishes
I started to cook from the basics. I tried my own version of eggs for breakfast, and the next week I, being overly bold, tried instant-mix pancakes and an omelet. But my pancakes burned and stuck to the stainless steel pan, and my omelet turned into scrambled mush. I didn’t know that pancakes are supposed to be cooked in a non-stick or cast-iron pan on low heat, or that milk needed to be added to the omelet mix. For me, failure became an encouragement to cook better.
I tried to follow new recipes I found or replicate dishes I saw on the Food Network, which features cooking shows, shows about fun food facts and food competitions. Watching the celebrity chefs on their cooking shows not only introduced me to new dishes but also totally new cuisine. On 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray showed how to cook easy, yet delicious, meals like Cajun Pork Burgers. She can squeeze a salad and/or appetizer, the main course and a dessert into 30 minutes of cooking. This is possible only if different foods are cooked and carefully monitored at the same time. It seemed impossible to cook any meal within that time period, but through practice and experience, I learned how to make quick meals without any problems.
My family, not surprisingly, really liked the idea that I cooked. When my mom runs out of ideas for dishes, she asks me how she should cook the chicken. My lazy sister, whose hunger is incessant, asks what I am going to cook for her. During the weekends, my parents, fully aware that I am not planning to cook, intentionally ask what I need from the supermarket. My mom has even asked me to cook for her dinner parties. Nothing was more stressful than preparing a 20-pound turkey for my extended family for Thanksgiving, but it turned out better than any turkey we’d eaten before.
