COOKING WITH LOVE

Time immemorial mankind has been experimenting with vegetables, grains, pulses, fruits, meat products and Fish, creating great recipes and interesting combinations of food. My experiments with food started very early in life. My wife felt that while everybody gets a day off in a week, why is that she does not get one from the kitchen. The logic in the statement led me to the kitchen and my experiments with food commenced. It started with me making Lunch and dinner on Sundays. The kids joined me in the venture probably because that was the only way they could skip church on Sundays but as we progressed they also started enjoying it as they both are excellent in culinary arts. Looking back in those days almost all the recipes we tried were from our own imagination of how the end product should be and was never based on any recipe book. Those carefree days were simply great as it gave me lots of time to be with the children and I still cherish those moments.

It was during this time that I came to realize the greatest ingredient in all forms of cooking. Nobody ever cooks a meal for their enemies and it is always for the near and dear ones unless of course one is working in a hotel. While creating these art forms, ladles of love is added and it is that which makes it simply great. When you cook with love even the simplest of omelet will attain a very different taste. First is the patient cutting of onions, tomatoes and any other vegetables so finely that it blends in finely and thereafter the mixture whisked vigorously till the egg starts to froth. The end result is a fluffy omelet which is sumptuous. As against this consider the same individual making it without any love; all the fillings will be lumpy and the omelet half burned.

I am sure you all will agree that food cooked adding loads of love will always be very tasteful. So how do we do it over and over again when cooking can also be a big chore. Well the answer would be to be honest because nobody can be on a permanent emotional high and therefore on some days one may not be in a mood to be in the kitchen. That is the time to pick up the telephone and order food from the nearest home delivery. Generally the problem mostly props up because there is no planning when it comes to food. More often than not, the course taken is to land up in the kitchen, open the refrigerator, look inside and then conjure up a meal. This results into mismatched dishes which leaves everyone unhappy. The husband will eat it because if he opens his mouth he will get an earful, the children have to eat it because it is healthy and the one who makes it guilty as hell. A very good way is to have a weekly menu sheet. This itself is a boring task but what needs to be understood is that there is no need to fill it all up in one go. As and when any dish comes to your mind jot it down and if it is the main dish work out the side dishes or vice versa. Since this has been done in advance, there is adequate time to do the shopping for the items required. Also important to note is that when we buy anything there is always a minimum quantity but that may leave unused portions which generally go bad. It is here that you can make a change because then you can mix and match the ingredients so that all what you have bought is consumed.

The actual cooking if there is a plan is far easier than an attempt without any preparation. Some of the sauces or masalas can be made whenever there is time and not rush doing it all in one go. The next is the actual serving. The lousiest of preparation can pass off if presented and served well. Make a rule that food will be eaten only at the dining table and never never a TV dinner. Lay the table and make it a joint task, it can be your spouse or the kids but do involve them. Conversing with each other makes the family come closer.

As the saying goes that if this entire struggle in life is to put food in the stomach, then it is important that we make a celebration of it. So let us start cooking with love because the content look on the face of your loved ones can be the biggest high on life.

Recently my grand children were with me and we had some great time cooking together. The planning, shopping and making it all became such a riot that we had some great laughs. My four year old granddaughter who is so choosy in her eating was happily eating all that she was making. My grandson would be jotting down the shopping list and would rush off to the nearest grocery store. There was so much love in these fun games in the kitchen that all what we tried turned out tasty.

Many women have won a man's love by cooking delicious meals for him. They fed his stomach and found love in his heart. So why not continue with the love story………..