I cook. I love cooking. Cooking calms me down. Cooking gives me serenity. Cooking makes me a happy camper. Cooking gives me a sense of achievement. Like what Julie Powell once said, "After a day when "nothing" is sure, you know that if you add egg yolks to milk and chocolate, it will get thick, and it is such a comfort!" Oh did I mention I love feeding too? :)
Unlike the many inspired top notched cooks around, I did not grow up learning my mother's trade. In fact, I used to hate home-cooked food, and protested (sometimes by rolling on the floor) on why I couldn't have Pizza Hut or McDonalds instead. It was plain and simple, I grew up with deliriously good food that I didn't know what bad food was. It was only until I left home that made me realize what I was missing. It was only then did I realize why people raved about my mother's food. She was a genius and her taste buds were spot on.
Up till today, it's almost impossible for me to recreate my mother's food 100% even with her recipes at hand. There's just something about her touch, and instinct that makes it different. But there was one thing I was able to replicate, which is to cook with love. My mother, a Baba Nyonya, spends half her day laboring in the kitchen. She prepares for lunch while we're eating our breakfast, and for dinner while we're eating our lunch. Come to think of it, my mother hardly ever joins us at the dinner table. Her place is in the kitchen, not because of traditional roles, but because I reckon she truly finds comfort in it.
Food never turns out right when you're angry or flustered about cooking it, or doing it to beat the party crowd who would be waltzing in shortly. You have to take time to labor on it, savor each tear with each cut of the onion and season till you're truly satisfied. Let the stomachs rumble, they will thank you for the wait, because Love is the magic seasoning to all your food. THAT, is the secret ingredient for good food across the board.
So where did I learn how to cook? Through the World Wide Web baby! That's right. It may sound generic and too good to be true but this is where I researched, tried and err, and combined recipes to find that perfect balance of what good food can be. The thing about recipes online is that, they never truly give it to you in its entirety. There's always that special thing or two that they leave out, whether intentionally or not. So here I am, to find the missing pieces in the puzzle and share them with you.
There are a few things however you will never find on this blog:
1) Leeks - Urgh... Yuck
2) Lamb - Because I think they are cute
3) Citrus flavored meat - Forgive me but Duck L'orange is truly, an abomination. Meat should always be savoury
4) Exotic meat - Because it's cruel
Everyone can cook. And i'll show you how easy peasy it is to find a recipe online, add a dash of love, and maybe a twist, pinch and shake of that something special to make it your very own signature dish.
Let the cooking begin!!! Yeehaww~
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