My love hate thing for the kitchen
i have never been a cook. I can't cook for real.There have been countless of times when i burn something, or the food just comes out tasting horrible. I remembered when i was really young, i liked potatoes, and i liked eggs. So i thought that it would be great if i could make potato omelette. I could not for the world, figure out why my omelette came out of the pan with uncooked potatoes. There were other unfortunate incidences in the kitchen that further strengthened my belief that i am just not meant to step into it. Recall my first home economics class in high school, the "rock bun" I was making turned into cupcakes. Really bad cupcakes. My teacher cast me a glance that said "i knew she would screw up" and handed me those little paper cup cake molds. Thereafter, i tried to be as inconspicuous as possible in class. And for the exam, i had this entire plan to bake a chocolate cake because should i burn it, at least it won't be too obvious. I even went as far as to cover the cake with chocolate icing!
Then i went through a chocolate chip cookie phase, which turned out alright, i figured, as long as i use lots of Hershey's choc chip. There is no way how LOTs of those choc chip won't make the worst cookie taste palatable. That was until a friend bit into a lump of bicarbonate soda.. i was so embarrassed, i never made those cookies again.
I look at my brother. This is the guy who cooks as little as me but yet, whatever strange stuff he churns out of the kitchen almost always tastes good. Like creatively good. I figured it was his patience. He cooked without recipes. He cooked simply by tasting, and adjust it accordingly. How he tried to make me a better cook. He was always giving suggestions.. such as, i think this will taste better if u added.....
Circumstances forced me to learn to cook. As much as I love my Chuqianyiding instant noodles, there is no way i can eat that everyday. Italy 2004, i learned to cooked pasta. I was 23 years old and had my 18 year old housemate tell me how easy it was to prepare a meal. Now, California 2008, i find myself once again, having to wield the pan/pot, whatever. The trick is, i've figured is to simply stick strictly to the recipe. Asian food is pretty flexible. My mother, and her mother cooked without recipes. There was no such thing as measuring spoons or cups. Its all by feel which i am lacking of (and patience too). And as long as i stay clear of such intuitive cooking, i am fine. Because, really, cooking is like doing an experiment. If I can follow a protocol to make neuron cultures, why can't i bake??
3 weeks ago, I started with a Betty Crocker's cake mix. Whisk in a c
ouple of eggs and butter and it became a cake. Buoyed by the success of this one cake, I moved on to make a Lemon Cheesecake (which got me all flustered cos i freaked out when the mixer caused all the cream cheese to splatter out of the the bowl, onto me and my kitchen. I hate mess!) The crust got a little burnt, the water seeped into my spring form pan, but hey, it tasted great.The following week, i worked on Tiriamisu -- a recipe from a friend. Could not find lady's fingers so had to use SaraLee pound cake as a substitute. It was a mess. A friend called it Tiriamisoup cos the whipped cream collapsed and became the consistency of gravy. It tasted fine... how can anyone not love the taste of custard laced with coffee and kahlua? And when i think about it, as long as i don't use salt for sugar, my cake can't turn out that bad right?
In the midst of all these baking frenzy, I ventured to cooked new stuff too. I discovered a site which had simple good thai receipes. And its one of those sites with just a few recipes so that it does not overwhelm me. So far, i have tried the Basil tofu and Orange Lemon chicken. i never knew that orange & lemon juice coupled with chili paste could yield such a unique tangy flavour. Also, i discovered the wonderful taste of basil leaves. This is what makes thai food so fragrant.
So this is the story of my cooking history. As yet, I have not killed anyone with my culinary disability which is great news (when i made the tiriamisu, i was so worried about salmonella, that i used myself as a test subject by eating some of the custard the night before).
I just made frosted lemon cake. Next week, i feel like Apple Cream cheese pie... or maybe a chocolate banana bread. We'll see.
** now i should learn how to take better pictures of food...
posted by eline @ 3:05 PM
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