Just over a year ago when I came to the States, I didn;t know how to cook... not even a single thing... I could boil water or egg, that's it. No other cooking talent. Being the youngest sibling at home, whenever I was told to do anything, either my brother or sister would step in for my rescue and did all the stuffs... that felt good.
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." With my sister in Denver, CO and me with a stranger but countrymen living in Laramie, WY the equation didn;t quiet fit. So my sister briefed me that if I want to cook just call her and ask about it, or I can even refer to YouTube to find the recipes/procedures. And in case that didn;t work, she got me few cartons of noodles and other ready to eat food.
When she first came to drop me, she talked to my roommate and enquired if he knew how to cook? Turns out he has been living alone and cooking for over a decade now. So here was the new equation, he will cook and I will do the dishes. Can there be any better option than this for a person like me who has never cooked? I don;t think so. If you think I could have gone out to eat, then let me make you clear, I wasn;t used to American food, both taste and flavor. Things went well for a while then there was a twist.
My roommate was just married and used to talk a lot with his newly-married wife. By 'a lot' I mean 'a LOT'. And they were 12 time zones apart. When it was time for dinner, he was on the phone. And then he loved to cook what he liked... some stuffs that I didn;t like. But then I had no option. The clock hit 8 or 9 or 10, but he was either busy on phone or on skype, sometimes showing all the stuffs that we had in apartment. I had no idea what to do... but I knew I was hungry. What could I do, he was just married, away from his wife... and I was in no position to complain him to feed me in time. Feels like I am bitching. I am not. He fed me when I didn;t have any clue about cooking.
So I call my sister to help me learn cooking. I overfried the chicken for the first time, pasta turned out good with all the added flavor of cilantro, carrot, etc. She gave me bunch of spices, I added them making some random guesses whether it would turn out good or not whenever I made vegetables, and that was good as well. I wished, I had tried all that before all this happened. So, there I was a rookie cook, who could cook food, edible enough... it was good, if not awesome.
One year after, now! When I went to Denver last time, I was wondering why my chicken tastes so different than that my parents, sister or brother-in-law cook. So when I called my Mom last time, she gave me a clue. Just one little thing. I tried that a day before yesterday, and tell you what, that was the most awesome chicken that I had ever cooked. I wish I had cilantro and lemon to add to it. But even without that it was awesome. I ain;t bragging, but it was real good. First I thought may be I was too hungy or maybe that was the best chicken meat that was ever there. But no. I made it today as well, and it turned out even better.
Seeing this I have few confessions to make. My mom is an awesome cook, everyone knows that. No doubt. But I have started believing maybe cooking skills/talent is inherited as well via DNA, otherwise a crap like me who had never made anything at all, how can I make such an awesome chicken! But on the other side there is one best part to cooking for yourself... you can try different stuffs, get it as oily as you want, I mean that doesn;t bother me much given my body type... Damn! I am already looking forward to finish that chicken in the refrigerator and cook another one!
Big brother, with you living alone for a while, if you need the recipe to cook that chicken, I am ready to share that with you... only you, no-one else! It's all in the family! Luff you.
