Bit of this and a bit of that

I remember a time when Pappa George used to joke about whether he will ever get a tea made by me. And over the years, I think I have managed to surprise him, myself and others. 

Every time I stir something, I wonder how I got to this point. I try to trace it back to the event or reason when culinary experiences began to be fulfilling the way I feel now. From being the one who sulked to help Mumma Lin to being obsessed with making meals, watching master chef etc. is something that I slowly am becoming aware of. More often than not, activities like cooking are categorised as a chore, and so we tend to forget to appreciate our journey on that front. 

Source - https://www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/indian-mom-cooking

After years of stirring and wondering, one day, I think I made a possible theory to back my feelings about this everyday phenomenon that is underrated almost always. During my school days, I was the girl who needed Mumma to be around while I studied. She never taught me, but I just needed to know she was in the same room or within my vision. And this meant that I spent a lot of time on a stool in the kitchen. She'd be stirring away, and I'd be reading or doing my math by the slab. I distinctly remember the spells when I'd stop and look at her - I used to wonder how she managed to get that smell so effortlessly. Her hands moved swiftly, and it was just putting a bit of this and that filling the home with magic. 

Some days I remember actually asking her what she was making or how she was doing it. Like most people who know their way in the kitchen, she would just say things like, "add this until it tastes like that". Mothers are often known for their disavow measurements and cryptic instructions. In spite of growing up outside our native, our parents raised us with a distinctly local appetite.  

I feel my journey in this line started way back then while doing my math and reading lessons by her side, sitting on that stool. We read so much about the influence and impact our environment has on us, and that can be the only theory that worked here. The young girl then was probably taking it all in and making mental notes in a way that manifested over time (I also managed to manifest a partner who would do complete justice to my growing love for cooking by eating!).

Even today, there is this grace I find in watching Mumma Lin cook. It is disciplined and precise. Unlike those days in school, now I observe more keenly, I try to capture the measurements visually (because hey, if you ask her, she will say a bit of this and that even now) and understand how she balances it. There are very few days in these past decades when Mumma Lin's cooking looked like it felt like a chore - she served art every day, and I wish I had learnt to appreciate it more from early on. 

How I transitioned from "will you ever make tea" to "I don't want to order food" has been a journey of ups and downs with enough juice for another blog. 

But for now, I'm just on the path of being more aware of things around me because it often blows my mind how I've picked up some things that are so dear to me by just being in the context and not even trying. 

P.S. This theory is solid because Cottonball (my sister) did not sit on that stool much. She preferred studying in her room. And so maybe that's why she is not a lot into culinary experiments yet!

Affection radiating from lunches prepared and meals packed the way we like is profound.