The highlight of the last month was when my roommate walked in from grocery shopping with a 10kg bag of flour. At the time, it was a commodity rarer than gold.
Losing yourself in baking is meditative, relaxing, and best of all, the end result is delicious and soul soothing. When I found out that my grandparents had eaten an entire loaf of warm homemade bread for dinner a few nights back, I felt proud and relieved. I can all too easily do the same thing. It’s in my DNA.
Cooking is how I show my loved ones that I cherish them. Sola I eat a lot of pasta, lentil soup, and oven fries. Serving a meal that’s designed to be customizable is a great way of accounting for a variety of food preferences. My favorite kind of meal has lots of little dishes where you have an idea of what the final product is meant to be, but you and your dining companions are essentially building your own dinner (BYOD). Perhaps I love this so much because I lived with my parents for many years, and since each of us preferred a different ratio of carbs to veg to protein, it became easier to make several different (easy) components and then let each person assemble their own meal.
Passover is drawing to a close and I am so excited to celebrate the end (and my successful adherence to its particular dietary laws) with carbs and cocktails. Tomato sauce simmers on the stove, the 72hr pizza dough I started Monday is on the counter coming to room temperature, and I have a plethora of toppings ready to go. Food normally takes center stage at gatherings as we celebrate momentous events and bring people together, exactly what we’re told to avoid at the moment. I don’t want to give up those special feelings that come about when you’re eating a good meal in good company. And now it’s easy for the days to blur together, especially since many people are either eating solo or sitting down with the same people over and over again.
There’s a lot of talk about improving your cooking skills right now, taking the time to tackle big projects (sourdough, I’m looking at you). Stay tuned for an installment on deliciously fun activities that you can do, either by yourself (stuffing dumplings is very meditative, especially if you do it while rewatching a favorite tv show) or as a group activity. However, many of these are white flour based, and as it’s Passover, I decided not to torture myself and to instead take it back to basics. Whether you’re just getting started in the kitchen or looking to up your culinary game, I think you’ll find some tips in this list that’ll help you out or at least get those creative juices flowing. And if you master them now, by the time you can have people over again, you’ll be such a pro that you can use your cooking skills to seduce someone (not that you’ll need to since we’ll all be so dessssperate for human contact…)
Reveena's Kitchen 