Here is the submission for my first writing assignment where I discussed the experience of teaching myself how to cook.
Learning how to cook properly is a strenuous skill that I thought I would never acquire. My childhood has always been surrounded by food, whether it was homemade or takeout. I have taken advantage of the luxury of coming home from school and having a meal prepared by my mother who works all day, but I have never taken the initiative to learn how to make any of them. Saying I am a terrible cook is overboard, but I take pride in specializing in scrambled eggs, instant ramen, and frozen Trader Joe’s pizza. Now as a first-year college student who has seen Top Chef 12-year-old surpass me in the art of meal prep I believe something needs to change. In addition to starting my journey in the cooking world, I would have never known I would be walking through a door of newfound independence and responsibility in adulting.
After saving countless recipes from British cooking shows, Gordon Ramsey, and random cook blogs, I feel it’s time to learn how to cook fulfilling and rewarding meals rather than the ones I burn in the air fryer. Going grocery shopping has always been enjoyable but after various attempts of going and accompanying my mother, it was a never-ending cycle of lists not being followed. I always walked out with miscellaneous food items that didn’t go together and would inevitably rot in our fridge. Furthermore, in order to navigate what food I purchase, my mother limits me to a grocery budget so I am forced to rethink everything in my cart. Upon grocery shopping, based on the meals I enjoyed consuming the most, I decided to test my skills to prepare: Grill Chicken Breast, Boneless Ribs, and Tomato Pasta.
The stages of trial and error often decide if I will continue pursuing something. In the past, I attempted meals based on how they looked instead of meals already in my taste pallet, which often led to lousy taste results, a waste of time, and a waste of ingredients.
A common mistake I found myself doing throughout my cooking efforts, would be getting easily distracted. My mother would often tell me, “Talia, please just stay in the kitchen until you’re done cooking so nothing burns.” I have tried this method but then I would get bored or “tired” of standing and pacing around waiting for food to be finished. In an attempt to speed up this process, I would put the heat higher so everything cooks faster. But then that would resolve in burnt, low-quality food. In this manner, I tried to find a midpoint in how I can stay entertained while also paying attention to the food I’m cooking. Having my tablet playing a show on the side and having a timer go off every few minutes to check the food worked best in keeping me entertained and also preventing me from leaving the food in the kitchen unattended.
Grilled Chicken Breast
Grilled Chicken Breast seems so easy to make and something my toddler taste pallet would enjoy but I’ve somehow made it a confusing task. I found a Gordon Ramsey recipe and although I most likely only needed salt and pepper as a seasoning, I added any seasoning in my pantry that seemed like it would make chicken taste good, such as seasoned salt, garlic, powder, onion powder, and chilly flakes.
“Half a teaspoon of that, a pinch of this” ruined the fun of eyeballing and the extra dishes from measuring utensils seemed like a hassle. Estimating ingredients created more of a mystery as to what the end result would taste like. I normally would be afraid of not following the directions out of fear of failing but having the creative freedom in lieu of exactly following directions or rules made me appreciate the cooking process more. The weight on my shoulders lightened of having to do exactly as said or the finished product won’t be good. Growing out of my comfort zone and reaching for new things such as putting my creativity to the test became a part of the process of becoming independent.
Boneless Ribs
On my 17th birthday, I went to a Korean BBQ and had Boneless Ribs with a bunch of side dishes to accompany it (kimchi, dumplings, lettuce). Ever since then, I’ve always wanted to figure out how to cook it to reach a personal goal and the convenience of saving $50. During my trip to H-Mart, there was a spark of excitement that I was going to make Boneless Ribs, but then it was immediately shot once I saw the price of meat was $23.
The price tag threw my budget out the window but it motivated me to strive to cook this right the first try. I wasn’t going off a recipe, just a collection of videos that made it 4 different ways. I obtained the accessible ingredients within the videos and decided to use: salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, and garlic. Tailoring the ingredients I was going to use encouraged me to be more spontaneous and test myself on how various ingredients would taste if I added more or less of them, whereas I would normally ask for external input on how much is recommended to reach the right taste.
My mom shouts from the living room, “please put it on medium heat!” but I for some reason think she’s wrong because the pan is taking longer than necessary to heat up. I realized I should have listened when I placed the meat on the stove, the sound of the oil blazing and the mild smell of soy sauce filled the room. Multiple stab wounds dressed the meat because I didn’t know how to make sure it was fully cooked without causing a massacre. After around 30 mins, the red faded and the meat was dark brown. I added rice topped with seaweed and sesame seeds. It was a bit salty but was good enough for me to want to cook it again.
Tomato Pasta
Pasta is a comfort meal I must know how to make if I want to call myself an “intermediate” at-home chef. In middle school, I enjoyed eating an unhealthy amount of fettuccine and spinach pasta and if we were at a restaurant and they didn’t have anything that appealed to me, fettuccine was what I ordered. The tomato pasta I planned to make wasn’t one I was able to follow through a youtube tutorial and all I had to go off of was a few images of ingredients and an end product on Pinterest and which made me nervous this process would be a disaster. Having to improvise isn’t something I am experienced in, but not putting too much thought into the ingredients I used or pictures of food I tried to recreate showed it was okay to do so and the end product will often turn out fine.
The day in late fall I started attempting to cook made me wish I didn’t miss out on the opportunity to learn how to cook in my early teens. Although I am not a “Top Chef”, I was able to bump up a level from scrambled eggs and ramen to preparing meals that are both fun to make and have more substance. Teaching myself how to cook taught me a different form of responsibility that would eventually become more useful when I have to feed myself once I move out and giving me that extra push to be more spontaneous and take pride in making my own choices without being nervous about the outcome.
– Talia