I’ve just started reading Recipes for Respect: African American Meals and Meaning by Rafia Zafar and this book is going to shift my whole perspective on cookbooks, cooking, and how people communicate cultural and community values through food and the advice that we give each other on how to make food.
We’ll revisit this book another time, but I followed a rabbit trail of thought about how we each individually learn to cook and how we ascribe meaning to the experiences of cooking and eating. I’d like today’s Journal article to launch a conversation about our early experiences learning in the kitchen.
In the Beginning…
I am the daughter of a single mother. Those who know will understand that we kids pick up skills sets that can help family life run a little smoother, and I had a certain shine for cooking.
First, I learned a lot by watching and helping my mom to cook for us, for friends, and for parties - she is still the consummate hostess. Nothing was ever basic fare; I remember homemade spaghetti sauce, Cape Malay dishes like bobotie and sosaties, very cool California cuisine like quiche and zucchini & tomato tarts, and complicated dishes like tabbouleh salad and spanakopita.
Soon I was ready attempt my own meals and I was given some solid advice to get me started.
The Basics
I remember these basic pieces of advice:
Read the recipe before you start cooking and make sure that you have everything you need in both ingredients and kitchenware.
“A good cook cleans up after themselves” meaning to keep counters clear and promptly wash utensils and cookware.
Kitchen fires need to be suffocated; water is often not the best tool for kitchen fire protection.
Take care of your tools (knives & utensils) and they will take care of you
Cooking (and baking) is both art and science. Sometimes precision and attention to detail is what is required; others time you can wing it and learn something new.
As ever, I was curious what pieces of advice that others foodies would offer to a young person exploring food and cooking, and this is what they offered:
Always follow the recipe through as written the first time. After that, you can improvise as you like - Miriam
Master basic techniques while utilizing the same ingredient. For example, eggs can be boiled, fried, baked, poached, roasted, etc. That way you get a strong sense of what kind of food can be made with those techniques - Jude
Learn the role each ingredient plays in a dish, especially how they each trigger your five elements of taste (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami) - Jason
Try learning and cooking foods from different cultures. Trying new flavors expands your palate and makes it easier to embrace learning new things - Annie
Try new foods at least once and even several times before deciding that you dislike it - Lisa
Work hard, offer to help, and ask questions! -Blair
I seemed to grasp the basics and once my mom was convinced that I wouldn’t set the house on fire, I was given a fair amount of latitude. Being able to cook for myself was also a good backup plan for the nights when she was on nurse call.
The Mistakes
I was (and still am) an enthusiastic kitchen experimenter. I really loved flavorful food and I wanted to make beautiful, delicious food like I saw adults eating and especially like the pictures in magazines and cookbooks. So I dove in, but I made so many mistakes like…
Leaving pots on burners to scorch or boil dry
Trying to cook chicken breast in a skillet over high heat with no oil because “fat was bad” in the Eighties
Overseasoning food
Over correcting cooking on undercooked chicken
Using baking powder instead of baking soda
But my best mistakes all relate to my mom’s poor kitchen towels.
We had a nice kitchen as I remember it - including perfectly effective potholders - but for some youthful diabolical reason, I always used our kitchen towels to move things around on our gas range. This meant that more than once I managed to accidentally light our kitchen towels on fire. In my defense, I was quick to extinguish the flames but that always left a noticeable brown singe along the edges. I’d just tuck the towel back onto the rack and hoped that she wouldn’t notice.
To add insult to the kitchen towels’ injury, I was also deeply curious about the flavor and coloring properties of various spices and dyes kept in our pantry. On one notable occasion, I whipped out the food coloring to dye each separate part of a chicken destined for a nice roasted dinner. We’re talking blue and green drumsticks, red and yellow chicken breast, and purple and orange wings. I truly wish that I could say that it is a rainbow delight but it was not. As a conscientious cook, I did my best to clean up my mess and again, the kitchen towels absorbed the damage. Sometimes I would toss the offended kitchen towel into the laundry pile in hopes of delayed discovery but she always eventually found out.
You think I would have learned my lesson the first two-three-four times, but no… those kitchen towels had no hope of surviving my cooking efforts and eventually my mom gave up trying to have nice kitchen towels. Sorry, Mom!
Still, I did eventually manage to get better and I gained confidence in my ability to figure out new recipes, new techniques, and new foods - even if it didn’t go right the first time (or the second). And when I did inevitably set my oven on fire on my first and last attempt to make Yorkshire Pudding, I knew to use flour, not water.
I also have several sets of potholders and oven mitts on hand now.
The Final Words…
My culinary & academic hero Ken Albala probably has the best overall advice for cooks, young or old. When I asked what advice he would give to a young person, he replied, “Don’t listen to what anyone says! Have fun in the kitchen and in writing!” And he’s right.
If I had left the food dyes alone or used the pot holders like I ought, then the kitchen towels in the kitchen would have remained in pristine condition but I would have missed the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them. Instead, I discovered how much fun it was to experiment and play.
What advice would you give to a young person interested in cooking and food studies?
This Friday, As We Eat Journal subscribers will enjoy review and discussion of Edna Lewis’ The Taste of Country Cooking with a special focus on “Putting Up Veggies” and a bonus recipe for tomato chutney. For just a few dollars, you can get access to this exclusive content as well as more in-depth articles and help keep our oven lights on!
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