Answer to the Question: How did you get into Cooking and Baking?
Ok...So to answer this question, I need to go back many many years ago to when I was about 12 or 13 years old.
My Brother and I
At this time, my mom had me making different things in the kitchen with her; cutting up vegetables for fried rice, making roti with her for Divali and so on. My mom believed that everyone needs to know how to cook, that's why she taught both my brother and I to cook at an early age. Believe it or not, but my brother, Neel, can cook and bake just like I do. And he is more adventurous than I am as well. I remember when he visited us in 2017, he made a Trifle. YES....a trifle. And it was soooooo delicious! I already told him that he has to make another when he visits again....lol
Trifle
made by my brother when he visited from Australia
Memory Lane: Another time when I was learning
to cook, I decided to surprise my mom and family by making pelau, using dried peas. Well I never knew that the peas needed to be soaked and half cooked before using it in pelau. So the rice ended up coming out very soggy since the peas needed more time to cook. The feedback I got from my family though was that it tasted really good! Pic above shows Dried Pigeon Peas and Pelau.
So back to me.
One day, my dad brought home some books he got from a coworker. I, being the bookworm that I am, went through the books and found one that was about Cooking Techniques, and the science being them. This sparked my interest for sure. I cannot remember the name of the book, but I remember the contents. It detailed techniques such as braising, broiling, poaching and many others. It also had recipes to try. So I started trying them- poached eggs, lemon meringue pie, pie crust, pancakes. And during my trials, mistakes happened for sure. I mean how can you be learning if you do not make mistakes? That's an essential aspect of learning!! One of the first things I tried was pancakes. I ended up making about 30 pancakes with that recipe 😆😆. Next was Lemon meringue pie whose recipe called for corn starch. Remember this was many, many years ago when we did not have internet at our fingertips or a variety of items in the grocery as we do today. So I went to the next best thing; My Mother. She said “well, I think that's the same as cornmeal” 💁. So that's what I used. It tasted delicious, but it did not set. Of course years after I found out why...cornstarch and cornmeal are very very different!! 😅😅.
LEARNING TIME:
Difference between Cornstarch and Cornmeal
Both cornstarch and cornmeal comes from corn. Cornstarch is derived from the endosperm of the corn and is used as a thickening agent which has more thickening power than plain flour. Cornmeal on the other hand, is dried corn that has been coarsely ground. It has more of a corn flavour and is does not have any thickening properties. Both look very different, in that cornstarch is powdery and white, while cornmeal is usually grainy and yellow.
Bubbling something for his dad’s birthday.
So as the years went by, I continued to try different things until they were eventually successful. I was very thankful that my mom taught me to cook since this is a very beneficial trait to have for yourself and your family, AND it's not just for women! When my brother and I were in UWI, we relied ALOT on our cooking skills to get by each day since we did not have money at our fingertips to buy food everyday.
After getting married, I made an effort to teach my husband to cook as well -he had ZERO experience in this field at the time and now he can cook the main things just like I do. He is of course not as adventurous and prefers to stay within familiar territory. I am appreciative of this since I may not be able to cook everyday and he needs to step in when necessary.
BEAMING: With her very own , kid-friendly, knife set.
Another reason why I like cooking my own things is also because it is a healthier choice since you might not know every ingredient that goes into some food you may buy. I also love making things from scratch when it come to baking. Nothing is wrong with the box cakes, brownies and cookies; I have used them in the past and it can be a very good alternative for those who don't like to spend much time in the kitchen. But I like to challenge myself and the next step for me was to do it from scratch! Don't get me wrong though, we do love eating out and trying new restaurants. That's actually one of our family hobbies when we can get the time to fit it in.
In my everyday life, I have my 5 year older daughter helping me out in the kitchen by measuring things when I'm baking and cutting up seasonings when I'm cooking. I bought her her very own kid-friendly knife set which she loves sooo much! I have started including my 15 month old now as well, where she helps with the mixing, and she is extremely intrigued with my Kitchen Aid. She will run to the kitchen whenever she hears it come on and wants to be involved immediately.