Uncharted Territory: The Kitchen

As a kid, food was not my thing. I didn’t care for it and my parents struggled to get their small little girl to eat. Yes I was small. Short and skinny. Not like now. I would at times survive eating only bananas and maybe pasta. I feel sad for my dear mom and dad. And also for myself, what was I thinking?! I am making up for it now. I was always a very healthy kid and maybe that is because even though I didn’t care for food, I always liked to be outside, play and do sports. That interest is obviously still strong today. But the kitchen was an uncharted territory for me, and it stayed like that for years. Later in life I used to be the entertainer in the kitchen. The one who sang songs or cracked jokes while others cooked up a storm. Or I volunteered to take the car and go buy ice cream for dessert. I was always told I would make a better trophy wife (thank you kindly) than a housewife. However, during one year the health of 3 American nine year olds (my darling triplets) was my responsibility. They grew to be very healthy and strong so that gives me a bit of courage, meaning: I can keep other humans alive with my cooking. Although I did not do very advanced cooking and yes their parents were obviously very much involved too. Still, the triplets are alive today.

Even though I preach the importance of physical activity, I do believe one of the first steps in leading a healthy lifestyle is to take an interest in the kitchen. And it’s about having an interest and willingness to try new things, not being uber talented. Anyone can read a recipe and follow it. Well, okay most people can. I think it’s important to have a willingness to fail at times. If you have to throw out something that burned to a crisp, so be it. The cost is usually manageable. Although I did have a few small meltdowns when my macarons went haywire last year. Almond flour was not cheap…well not to me. I was then still in Stage Three. Stage Three you say?!…let me explain.

Sometimes in order to explain things, one does it in terms of stages. Stages of grief (often 5), stages of culture shock (often 4), stages of change (often 5), and stages of sleep (often 4). Here are the 5 stages in the process of becoming good at cooking, according to…well me.  

Stage One: May not really eat, a picky eater at best, feels food is a nuisance

Stage Two: Starting to enjoy good food, but totally clueless in the kitchen

Stage Three: Starting to play around in the kitchen, but may not want to commit to buying ingredients of good quality

Stage Four: Willing to spend money on good ingredients and kitchen tools - full speed ahead

Stage Five: Total rock star in the kitchen, can cook AND entertain at the same time

At this moment I think I am at Stage Three and Three-Quarters (total Harry Potter reference here!). Will I ever get to Stage Five? Not sure. For the moment I get super nervous when someone watches me cook. But I do enjoy watching others cook. The other day I shocked my parents when I declared how lovely I thought it was to watch a show about baking. My dad kept bringing it up for days! The weeks that followed my comment, my mom and dad made sure to call me and let me know every time there was a baking show on TV.

You can most definitely be inspired by cooking shows on TV. My current favorite is watching the British chef Jaime Oliver. I love how easy he makes it look. And things can get a bit messy in order to get the flavors to marry. Don’t be afraid of handling produce a bit harshly, like Jaime Oliver. Touch the leafy greens! Sounds weird…but you get my point.

Get inspired from traveling! After spending some time in the Dominican Republic, I started incorporating cinnamon more and more in my cooking as I had many amazing dishes there which included the spice. While living in Australia I started enjoying beetroot as they used it regularly Down Under. Find inspiration anywhere and everywhere! Although sometimes the dish you thought was so fantastic at the little restaurant at the cute piazza in Rome may not taste so amazing at home. The atmosphere and company you have while you eat means a lot too. However, currently I am determined to try to recreate a Thai dinner, inspired by my recent trip to Thailand of course, by making Pad Thai and mangoes with sticky rice. I will attempt to do this, but it can of course be a bit tricky to get good ingredients for this here in Northern Europe. 

Inspiration can come from friends too. I rather ask a good friend for a recipe after eating a delicious meal than buying just any cookbook of the shelf. I have learned from friends to pour some olive oil on soup to enhance the fish flavor. Or that one can use Greek yogurt instead of whipped cream as a side for a chocolate cake. If you don’t want to buy a cookbook, you can always find stuff online. And again, you can find inspiration. To get excited about food. Maybe you won’t be cooking per se, but perhaps you can start by learning how to match different types of food with each other. Like making a spread of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, kalamata olives, prosciutto, fresh basil leaves, fresh sourdough bread, walnuts, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Buy spices! Spices make anything more fun! Over the last few weeks I have doubled the amount of spices me and my current “roommate” (that would be my sister) have. Her comment: “It's fine you buy spices for us, but why can’t you buy them from the same brand so that our spice rack looks nicer?!” Side note, my sister is not shallow, she is just way better at decorating a home and making sure it’s ecstatically pleasing than I am.

Okay on the topic of cooking, well actually on the topic of making something in the kitchen...baking... As I kind of mentioned earlier, the first time I baked regularly was in 2013. I had been to Paris twice the previous year and was absolutely obsessed with macarons. Great first project for a beginner. Not. But I persevered and became decent at baking them. I still like to bake. Fresh bread is my favorite thing to eat in life. And you don’t even have to put crack (Nutella) on it. Fresh baked bread only needs a little olive oil for dipping and it’s heaven on earth. Baking bread is fun, but take advantage of kitchen equipment, if you have access to some. I always think I can knead the bread by hand, but end up calling out for my dad to help me. He kindly takes out some machinery which saves the day. Started out as a strong, independent baker, ended up as a little kid screaming for daddy to save her dough! I have some learning to do…

I will end with a cliché, but it’s true: Can I kind of learn how to cook, anyone can! Just work your way through the stages. You may be able to skip at least stage 1 as not everyone was like me, a little kid not enjoying food. And I would say cook with confidence. If in doubt, make sure to serve a very good wine with your meal. And right now, Roble, a cheap but good, organic red wine from the Spanish vineyard called Casa Galvis, is what I drink.