Cooking, alongside music, is the second best stress buster, as far as I am concerned.
You don’t have to be born with culinary flair to be a good chef. You can pick it up at any stage of your life. Never too late! It’s an art that you can learn and master with commitment and practice. It’s a constant learning experience and the more you start enjoying it, the better you get at it. But you’ve to really love it to excel at it.
Over the years, I’ve acquired a reasonable stature as a cuisinier among friends and those I treat to my preparations every now and then. I’ve a number of friends who often tell me that I have a great career in cookery and I know they mean it.
But I’m perfectly all right with being an amateur who cooks for fun and hobby and good health and friendship. You can be a Gordon Ramsay of sorts in your own circle and enjoy the limited celebrityhood and people looking forward to sinking their teeth into the goodnesses you have to offer.
A liberating hobby
Cooking as a hobby is so liberating. But it wasn’t always like that for me. Hardly a decade back, all I could make was a cup of tea and omelette for myself. I’ve always been a foodie but the very idea of cooking evinced a feeling of boredom in me and I was convinced I’d make a mess of everything the day I stepped into the kitchen.
The entire rigmarole of buying the stuff, cleaning and washing it, putting it through the chopping board, looked so boring to me. Now, I’ve come to realise that the precooking rituals are the culinary equivalent of foreplay that ensures a resounding foodgasm.
As you continue to explore the nuances of cooking, it dawns upon you that there is a proper science to it that, once you understand it, enables you to do those small right things at the right time. The attention to detail is among the fundamentals of good cooking.
The entire process that goes into preparing a delicacy is therapeutic. The coming together of flavours, as they start tickling your olfactory senses while you’re in the middle of preparing a feast, is a feeling that words may fail to describe. The sizzling hiss and aroma of spices and condiments as you roast them, or blend them, is so refreshing.
A gratifying process
Beyond the sensual appeal, these small details are also your indicators that tell you how a dish is panning out and what your next step has to be.
The secret of knowing how low the flame has to be kept to bring about the perfect or near perfect succulence that ensures a proper build-up of juices during the whole process is so gratifying.
It’s pure euphoria, to put it more expressly. To ensure that your mutton is fall-apart tender yet not overcooked is a blend of art and science that you master with time. Unless, of course, you’re a trained chef who has studied this as part of the syllabus.
Cookery is as much about aesthetics as it’s about palatability and gastronomics. The visual impact of a plated delicacy can tempt you to savour it even before its aroma tantalises your taste buds. The presentation, the texture, the colour speak about a treat even before you’ve taken your first bite.
Food brings us together. The tradition of communal dining has been going on for ages. We share trust, cooperation and understanding with people that we break bread with. Reconciliation between individuals or groups is celebrated over a meal. Any conference or diplomatic initiative between countries is incomplete without a banquet. We can go on and on.
As I run through this piece before sending it to the editor, a friend asks: “So what in your view is the ultimate stress buster?” I leave that to the wisdom of the readers.
Shabir Hussain is a senior journalist based in India
