July 30, 2007

Treasures of Life

One of the most cherished memories of my childhood is the times I spent with my mom when she would cook up something special for me during my summer vacation. I being the foodie I am would be excited right from the word go! I can still remember the smell of the 'Benne biscuit' (Butter biscuit) baking in the oven or the fresh homemade mango ice cream kept in the freezer to set. I would promptly check every few minutes to see if it is done. I wouldn't do much, but just watch her (primarily in anticipation of the end result) but in the process learnt so much. And more than anything I just enjoyed the process of watching all the ingredients come together to form a savorable delicacy. Its the fun of blending ingredients together and the excitement of getting to eat at the end of it that I enjoy cooking as much as I do. Its been a source of relaxation rather than a daily chore (Ofcourse I have my lazy days too!).

When I am with my daughter today, I think of those days and I get a warm feeling and I think that I would love for her to have the same feeling years later. That made me realize how important it is to treasure the recipes that have been a part of five years of my cooking life. Once somebody told me that one of the best things you can inherit are family recipes as there will be nothing else you will use more in your day to day life.

So here is to sharing some treasures of my life. Some have been passed on, some found on cyberland and some results of some experiments along with another food enthuse B.

2 comments:

Shruthi said...

Ah lovely. Madhu, do you know something very funny? I remember you very often in this very context.
Once, we were all at your place as usual, and Aunty and Uncle were away. There was puliyogare gojju in a steel box, and there was very little left. You scooped it out, put it to the anna to mix it... then you put a little of the plain anna into the box, and swiped your fingers with the anna on the sides of the box to get the remaining gojju stuck there.
Then you stopped suddenly, and said. "Oh, I hadn't realized what I was doing. My mom does this, I picked it up unconsciously!"
In fact, I learnt most of my cooking just by watching too.

Madhu said...

I remember that sleep over at my place when we all tried a hand at cooking! Now wasnt it supposed to be a sleep over for our project discussion ;-) Those days were fun!