Cooking is An Art

Apr 27

He took the first bite and without tasting the vegetable said,
"There is no salt in the dal (lentil)."

His wife immediately realised there had been a mismatch. She was sure that she had added salt twice, but perhaps she had added salt twice to the vegetable itself. She said,

"Please leave this dal and vegetable. I have a special vegetable for you. Till then eat salad."

She took both dal and vegetable to the kitchen, mixed both and heated and garnished it and came back to serve it to her husband,
"Taste this special vegetable called CPFRL (Cheese Pea Fried with Red Lentil.)"

This was just a light hearted anecdote, but reminds me of the current state of our homes. How many of us in the family these days know how to cook? Maybe very few. They can make noodles or pasta or tea or coffee at the most.

Ready to cook materials are available in the market. Bring the stuff and heat it and then eat it. Food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato have also made life easier, especially in urban areas.

Both the husband and wife are working, and it's quite understandable that they don't have much time to cook at home after being tired and totally sucked out from work. In such cases, they have the option of employing a domestic cook.

It is now a bitter truth that even those who know how to cook choose not to cook. But the next generation is one step ahead. Just watch the conversation between two women,

"My daughter doesn't quite know how to cook, but she makes great coffee."

"My daughter doesn't waste her precious time learning how to cook. She wants to be a software engineer after all."

It is okay if we do not know a particular thing, but it is surprising how one can take pride in not knowing something, considering it a nasty job.

I remember, when I was a teenager, I learned to make roti (chapati), dal, vegetable, rice, khichdi etc. My mother was quite emphatic in this regard,

"Cooking is an art that everyone should know, including boys. It is basic, because we can stop everything else, but not food. Nobody knows when and where one will be required to cook."

Actually, it worked for me. I started my job at the age of 19, and had to live alone in remote areas where neither restaurants nor cooks were available. Neither food delivery apps nor ready-to-cook ingredients were available in those days. There were also no Google Baba or YouTube videos to guide you how to cook. So my knowledge came in handy.

Both my sons know basic cooking even at this age. Whether they will use it in the future or not is immaterial, but who knows when a situation like the Covid pandemic arises.

My point here is not to criticize people who do not cook or who do not know how to cook, as it depends on many factors, circumstances and preferences. How can I judge? All I have to say is that cooking, like any other art, is an art that everyone should know or try to learn.