Taste of an Art

As a child, during the summer holidays, I have learnt quite some things like embroidery, batic, clay modelling, doll making and different types of painting. Remember the organisation called Bal Bhavan in Cubbon Park, Bangalore which used to offer various such courses at very nominal prices!! I wonder if these courses are still continuing. As an adoloscent, I have always had interest for such things and continued to learn. I learnt Ikebana and mural painting. I know till know this post seems like beating my own drums :D Now comes the real deal. They say cooking is an art. I never bothered to get a 'taste' of this art till I got married, that is till I was 27 years old. There are many reasons (read excuses) for this. Primary ones being:

• My mom is an early bird. She gets up at around 4:30am or 5am to start the daily household chores. Not that, I used to get up late. During school and college days, I used to wake up at 4am but the early hours of the day were used for 'studying'. I had to leave home early as I had travel to the other end of the city.
  

• I thought helping my mother with grocery shopping, vegetable cutting and some odd tasks was great proportion of real cooking. How wrong I was!!

Even after I got married, as long as I stayed in India, I just helped my MIL with cooking but never did the real cooking as I was really pressed for time. But then, few months later I landed in France to run a family on my own. The first month was just out of a horror movie. Once in every two times, I got it wrong!! After 3 months of cooking, I can confidently say I have improved leaps N bounds. I know there is a long way to go but still!! This is not just my story. Many of my friends were like this. Never learnt cooking and after few months they are quite good!! So unmarried girls reading this, a tip for you, dont worry about cooking, its our second nature!!

Anyhow, there are some primary requirements for cooking. My two cents on it:

• Time: In the initial days, it takes a lot of time. It used to take atleast two hours for me to prepare 'Sambar'. If the salt was correct, it used to be very spicy. If the spice was correct, it used to be too sour. When all these turned out to be correct, it was too watery. So I had to cook Dal yet again, and add it to the Sambar and start again to adjust the salt and spice :( It takes some patience in the beginning to get the combination right!! After some time it is 'bhaaye haath ka khel' :D

• Good Recipes: Nothing matches mommies recipes!! Of course :D But with technology, we get a lot of good recipes from various cuisines on the internet. In the initial days, when my mom used to say, use 3 or 4 chillies. I used to ask, is it 3 or is it 4 and what size each :D
  

• Creativity and Innovation: Improvising a classical recipe. Thats gives a lot of satisfaction. Trying out new recipes is quiet interesting. But then, you need a lot of time for the same
  

• Last but not the least, you need a really Good Guinea Pig. Husbands are the most easily available and vulnerable category :D Shan has been really patient and very helpful. He is quite a good cook himself and thinks cooking is a very good relaxation!! Uff, I have not reached that stage yet!! He always volunteers with new recipes, to cook as well as to get experimented with :D

After few months of cooking experimentation, I have the following achievements, if I may call so :D

• I have hosted many parties for my husbands friends and colleagues. I have prepared an entire repas - full meal with an entry, main course and dessert, that too tailored to French tastebuds :D
  

• We celebrated our first anniversary with a barbeque picnic party on a hilltop after 1.5 hours of cycling :D
  

• I prepared continental dishes like the French tarts and the Italian pizza. Prepare, does not mean get the base etc from the supermarket. I prepared it from scratch!! Yippee!! Man! Actually, traditional continental dishes are quite complicated!!
  

• I have celebrated all the festivals till date. The latest one with a 13 item menu :D

Most newly married women, may have similar stories. I just shared it :D I have done nothing great!! Till now the story seems good. But all stories, seem to have some bad part embedded. My mother got recently operated after being diagnosed for a gynaecological problem. After her operation, she obviously is suggested bed rest. My father is not a great cook but helped my mom quite a lot. So, he is currently struggling with my mom totally out of kitchen. I am so many miles away from them and cannot help my mom now, when she needs me most. That too when my culinary skills have improved!! What an irony of life!!

Signing off!!

Contrast of the Moment:

In France, people cook for 20 minutes and eat for 2 hours. We cook for 2 hours and eat in 20 mins :D

Next to Come: By your side!!