The real art of cooking

Cooking is easy. But, like many things, cooking is one of those things which many people feel they can’t do. Or at least can’t do well. I look at it this way - who in this world can make a dish exactly the way you like it? Guess what... you! I am not a trained cook. (Actually I’m not a trained anything, but that’s another story) The point is that you can do anything that you want (except ballet dancing, civil engineering and surgery) when you learn the basic principles and allow yourself to make mistakes along the way. Remember, fear (not inability) is your greatest enemy. The thought of creating a dish which your friends and family will eat and say, “It’s just okay.” or “Hmm, interesting...” can be scary. We all want appreciation. We all want the pat on the back. But you know what - it doesn’t matter. It’s just one meal. No big deal. Unfortunately this fear of ours forces us to use existing formulas (read, recipes) in order to escape from the intrinsic creative nature of cooking. Sure, you might end up with a great minestrone soup, but you may have just missed out on the entire creative process of cooking a dish. After all, it’s not just about the orgasm. It’s about the foreplay, it’s about the romance. Buying your vegetables and ingredients is an equally rewarding experience. But food shopping is usually a drag (because we’re just trying to get the job done). Buy with love, wash with love and make with love. That’s the first secret to successful cooking. Stop treating food like a commodity. It’s alive and more importantly it’s going to keep you alive! Cookbooks and TV programs can improve your cooking. Always keep learning. But remember not to get obsessed with a recipe. It’s just one person’s way to make one good dish in one particular way (you may just find your own).

You might be a chef, a student, a bachelor or a housewife. Remember, its not about creating the perfect dish. It’s about having a creative and enjoyable experience which is equally satisfying to the palette. Cooking has some simple rules and simple concepts. Once you get these, its done. There’s nothing more to do. And it’s all common sense.  Let’s begin...

Don’t undercook or overcook 

Every vegetable, fruit or meat reaches a point where it’s just perfectly done. That point might differ from one chef to another or one dish to another. But it’s a definite point. Pasta needs to be boiled up to a certain point. Capsicum tastes terrible when overcooked. Potatoes are disgusting when undercooked. I’m sure the same applies to frying fish (though i wouldn’t know anything about that, since I’m vegetarian). So make sure that every ingredient in your dish is cooked to the right point. 

Salt can be added

Yes. If your dish has less salt at the end of it, you can always add more. But removing salt once you’ve already done the deed is like pouring cold water on overcooked rice (it doesn’t uncook). More salt in a dish is a taste killer. It simply destroys the dish. Don’t do it.

Think in combinations

The biggest mistake some of the best cooks make is to make a dish but serve it out of context. I was once served some superb rotis with sambhar and a dry green beans poriyal (south indian style). Also, there was no rice! Another time I was served rice, yellow dal and chole (chick peas curry). The problem? There were no vegetables, everything looked yellowish-brown, everything was soft (And my stocks were dipping badly). THAT was not a good day! Remember to combine dishes which complement each other. A Penne pasta in Arrabiata sauce with french bread and a green salad works well together. Taste wise, colour wise, and texture wise (Pasta is soft, salad is crunchy and bread is chewy). Go anywhere in the world and the best meals are combined well. Medditerranean food, French food, a typical Tam-Bram meal on banana leaf, even some good Junk food! Even the classic tiramisu works because of the heady combination of cheese, coffee, sponge cake and whatever else goes into it. You get the point.

The Art of Flavor

Okay this is what distinguishes the masters from the wanna-be cooks. Flavour is the combined effect of all the ingredients on your tongue as you swallow your bite. Not much can be told here except that you need to know what your dish is really all about. Do you want it to be spicy or delicate. Fire hot or mild. Pungent or soothing. Or maybe a combination of many qualities. It all depends on you. Are you using an ingredient because it has strong character or because it complements something else in your dish that will dominate. If you want to make something mild and combine it with something tangy, go ahead. Do you want it to also be tangy and hot? That’s fine. Decide what you’re trying to do before you start cooking. Experimentation is fine but if you’re going to combine seasonings from different continents, be very careful. Fresh coriander in pasta will make your dish taste like sevai upma and tomato chutney (something my Indian Grandmother makes). 

Get Fresh

The more processed something is, the more it will lack in its authentic flavour. French fries made out of potato paste (yeah there is something like that) are nowhere near fries made from potatoes you just pulled out of the ground. I used to eat plain roasted potatoes with a bit of salt in Benaras when I was a kid. i still remember the taste of those potatoes. same is true of cheese, milk, chicken and everything else. Buy fresh stuff. 

Recipes: Friend or Foe?

Someone said, about a music critic, “Writing about music is like ice-skating about calculus.” That’s extreme. But the point is to use recipes to make the dish that you want to make. Unless you just love making an already perfect thing perfectly all over again. (That’s really fine too). Hey, I’d love it if my grandmother’s rasam became the standard all over the world. But I do enjoy the different tastes of a Rasam made in different homes. Recipes can be guidelines, blueprints or complete trash, depending on what YOU want to do. Don’t be bound to them, but use them as you feel. After all, some time tested dishes shouldn’t be messed with (a minestrone soup is a minestrone soup is a minestrone soup).

Trust your Instincts

That’s right. Have no fear, and just feel your way around a dish. Something will tell you when you’re doing something you know is going to screw up the dish. Listen carefully. But if you don’t and the dish is ruined, chill. You’ll learn with experience. Cooking is risky business. And it should be so.

So there is it. You know everything you need to know about having fun and having dinner (without eating a microwave meal). Walk into the kitchen, open up your fridge, pull out anything that can be cooked, take out your herbs and spices and begin. Someone told me, “Things have a really good chance of getting accomplished when you begin.” Hmm, that works with just about anything, doesn’t it?