On Cooking

When I was seven, the highlight of my Sundays was dinner with my parents at my favorite restaurant The Italian Village. While kids my age were chomping away hamburgers at McDonald’s, I on the other hand, indulged on a gourmet chicken cream fettuccine. I fondly look back at this memory with the banter of my parents in my head and the delectable taste of garlic cream sauce on my tongue. 

These childhood Sundays easily directed me into choosing pasta carbonara as my first dish to master in the kitchen. It took a number of tries before I came up with a dish that satisfied me. Today, I can proudly say that I can whip up a batch that is restaurant worthy.

Cooking does not always come naturally though to everyone. More often that not, it is more convenient to temper our cravings for our favorite food by dining outside. The perception of cooking being a chore is so commonplace. This is why should you decide to take up the daunting task of cooking, it is paramount that you choose a dish you personally love. Pick something so gastronomically pleasing that you could not imagine life without having to devour it. Moreover, choose a dish that relives a memory not only on your taste buds but also in your mind. Often, this act of enjoying our favorite food is not merely solitary but also a communal act when we share the meal with other people. Cooking then becomes so much more than the arduous task of just chopping, stirring, baking, frying or steaming. It becomes a renewal of past experiences, in which, you allow for future experiences to be savored when you cook for yourself and for your loved ones. Like any other endeavor, finding meaning and joy in the effort makes the time in the kitchen well worth it.

The Italian Village has long been closed. Today, my Sundays are spent enjoying home-cooked carbonara with my mom at our dinner table. Every Sunday, I still am seven years old.