When I started my journey on self-discovery and cooking for myself, and following generally accepted rules and traditions in the kitchen, my goal was to understand the most basic skills and knowledge that goes behind making delicious things. It wasn't the first time I was cooking, I've always been 'into' cooking as far as I can remember, it's just that my earlier forays into cooking were quite experimental...and not universally acclaimed. Nobody thought it was a good idea necessarily. Some things aren't meant to be done. I'd have trouble eating the goops of my own creation, but forcing it down somehow was the only option, besides total humiliation and embarrassment because I'd have built it up so much.
Like eggs in noodles sounds like a good idea, yeah? But what if...and wait for this....noodles in eggs! Like a large pancake based on noodles! With TONNES of veggies and flour. And it's so big it won' turn around. In the end it'd be so bad I'd have to slather it in ketchup and the only flavor would be that of the sweet and sour ketchup, I'd eat it pretending it was amaazing as my sister made fun of me. And this was when I was in my early teens.
In either case, I've been cooking regularly or semi-regularly for the last six-seven years. There's no desire to go complex on recipes yet, I don't understand all of that, but at this point I have a basic understanding of flavor combinations, textures, temperature and the role of salt fat acid heat.
What I have been unable to master yet, and this is a pretty fundamental skill one should have, is uniformity and evenness. As in, I still can't chop perfectly evenly, and when I sprinkle salt or spices, often they will spread out quite unevenly.
Take yesterday for example. Some pieces were on the verge of carobnisation, some had barely cooked. When I salted later, some pieces were exxtra salty, others not so much. It was like playing a roulette with my food, or perhaps a box of chocolate. You never know what you're gonna get in your next bite.
The cutting and chopping I've improved with lately. But the turning around is...more complicated. How do you manage hundreds of small pieces of potatoes and make sure they're all evenly cooked on both the sides, while giving them ample room to cook in high-heat without micromanaging, while also doing other menial tasks in the kitchen?
It's an advanced skill for me, which I need to consciously learn to master.
As always, this is a work in progress, my cooking and this piece.
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