Cooking is no joke. Talent and skill brewed into a recipe makes good cooking. The result is palatability and celebration of the taste-buds. This is a general idea.
But the individual perception of taste depends on the elements of flavour nurtured from childhood or even transferred through genes and kept in memory. That is one of the reasons the same food is relished differently by different persons. Taste is also attributed to the way one eats.
Confucius said, “Every one eats and drinks, but few appreciates taste.” If one eats patiently to appreciate taste, the stomach gets enough time to recognise the quantity going in and signal a feeling of fullness to the brain to stop eating. Otherwise, there will be over-consumption by the time the signal is processed.
In progressive societies of today, men and women share domestic jobs, including cooking. But when the arena changes from domestic to public places, men are master chefs. It has been so from olden times. In Indian legend, King Nala is depicted as an exceptionally brilliant cook. Men make up the majority in today’s lucrative profession of cooking.
Those not used to cooking suffer when they have to stay away from family. I have had such an experience for many years abroad. But still, I do not have the confidence to cook. But I have seen some of my friends who have perfected the skill.
Once when I was staying with four colleagues in an apartment overseas, each from a different Indian State, we all cooked our food in a common kitchen at different times. One day, when I finished cooking, I kept the dish on the stove and left. Then another person came and completed his turn. While leaving, he put back my dish on the stove and kept it in simmer mode by mistake. Later, when the charred smell filled the corridors, he came to me and found out his fault. With all apologies, he was magnanimous to share his dish with me for the day. The exquisite taste of that fish curry is still on my tongue. I then realised that cooking is an art.
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