Sarah on Cooking

What? I cook??? A few weeks ago I wouldn't have believed it. But recently I've been playing around and discovered I have a new talent!

Now, don't ask me to know how to measure, and don't expect me to time things with any degree of precision... YET. But I've got my theories and I'm developing some techniques. Here's what I've found out so far:

First of all, determine your ingredients. Maybe you're lucky enough to go shopping for yourself and have all the money in the world. Ideally, get fresh ingredients!

Think up a central idea for your meal, based on what you've got. It might be some wild rice, or a nice cut of meat, or a new stirfry sauce you want to try, or a few pounds of fresh seasonal veggies. When you've got that, work on what goes with it. What textures would make a nice contrast? What spices and herbs would enhance the flavor? What other dishes would fulfill the dietary requirements and round out the meal? (Become conscious when you eat. You are learning the craft of food, picking up little tricks of the trade.)

My personal style, although still in its initial stages, is centered on herbs and spices. My boyfriend, himself an awesome cook, says it's because I have an unusally strong sense of smell. Remember that herbs and spices are meant to enhance the flavor of your base food, not to disguise or overwhelm it (of course this is really idealistic. I'm a college kid... I fully understand the need to drown stuff in salt, ketchup, tabasco sauce, salsa, bbq, ranch dressing, mustard, pepper, and sugar just so you can keep body and spirit together.)

Now, for people like me, salt, sugar, and strong spices are to be used in moderation. When you have a strong sense of smell, you want to appreciate the delicate aromas of the base foods along with the herbs and spices. People with weaker noses will need some kind of fat or oil to strengthen the essence of the scent-flavor. And people with little or no sense of smell rely almost totally on texture, spiciness, and the tastes (salty, sweet, sour, bitter) for their enjoyment of food. Take your audience into consideration, just as you would in any other art.

It's best to first get out all your ingredients and all your tools. I try to be very Zen when I'm cooking because I'm one of those people who's disorganized and easily distracted. I'll find myself going in circles and not accomplishing much. So you have to be aware of what's going on, what is where, what will be ready for the next step when. It's a dance with its own rhythm.

Cooking is a very sensual experience. There's all the temperatures and textures and scents and flavors and sights that you have in your hands, the precise movements of chopping and slicing, the sinuous twist of the wrist in stirring, the rapid, efficient movement across the floor as you move from drawer to counter to sink to stove, the flex of muscles opening a jar...

Eating is something we all have to do at least once a day. Everyone ends up being an expert in food to some extent. We might as well enjoy it. What's the best way to appreciate something in all its aspects? Make it an artform!

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