I don't enjoy cooking. I mean I really, really hate it. I'm incredibly bored when I cook and this indescribable ‘hateful’ feeling hangs around every time I take it up. Something induces me to consider the whole process as a complete waste of time. Shockingly, the reaction is despite the fact that I know I need to actually like this stuff.
How do I change this gut emotional response? Agreed, at 24, you have to deal with the onus of cooking, for evading this responsibility is out of question. But will I ever really begin to love it? And what keeps me off it…I don’t know. But there has to be something, as I know of some greats who live to cook.
I don’t wish to believe that I’m domestically challenged. My aversion for cooking may be because I couldn’t fare too well when I was put into a situation to cook, or perhaps because my mum's cooking is so perfect that I won’t ever be able to match it. Of course, in spite of my hatred I try to help my mom out but every time I enter the kitchen and do a tic-tac-toe with the groceries, I end up being overworked.
And then, no matter how good the dish turns out to be, I’m half dead to appreciate the delicious taste just because my slightest assistance in the kitchen feels like a Herculean task.
I even get irritated when I have to slap something frozen on a sheet pan, and I also very often don't make toasts, despite being extremely fond for them. Hmm…shoving a frozen meal in the microwave, however, is not much of a problem for a weary me!
Having said that, this massive aversion is a real problem that I want to completely grow over. Last week, in a rather uninteresting attempt after reaching home from work, I decided to dive into a cookbook to get some tips on the same. I thought I would surprise my mum with my culinary wonder.
Bhindi seemed the easiest...but then there was no
Bhindi in my refrigerator. Of course, I didn’t want to go shopping for foodstuff so I thought of trying my hand on Biryani, but then there was no chicken. Crap! For anything else, the whole cooking thing would take an hour or so. Irritating! So I quickly turned to
Dal Makhani...thanks to the minimum chop up involved. Oh but, the onions were tough!
Burnt my damn hand in the culinary process. Anyhow, it came ok finally. Hmm…it tasted not that bad and…well I chose to ignore those burnt bits at the bottom. Then I had to clean up the mess in kitchen and also scrap the burnt stew from bottom of the pot. Gosh!
Didn’t think it was worth it till I could see that smile on my mum’s face. She said she loved it…everyone at home apparently found it delectable, except for my brother who did try hard to hide that frown on his face after taking the first bite. Annoying.
Phew! For me, it's always been a challenge till now, and I guarantee it’d be all my life. I know it’s nothing to be proud of but I shamefully believe that nothing can take away my dislike for all the things in the kitchen. I still hate it.
(The views expressed by the author in the blog are his/her own)