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Cooking: Joy Or Necessity?

July 25th, 2007 by Lynette

Judging from the many culinary adventures here, I’m guessing most truly enjoy cooking and seek it out? How did you get started on your cooking journey? Because you like it or because it has become a sort of necessity? After all, you gotta eat right?

Furthermore, if you want Malaysian food while abroad – it’s more a necessity. Me, I started cooking at 12. Really more because of necessity. My mom went to work in Australia for several months and we have to cook ourselves lor or go hungry. No doubt, she arranged for catered food for dinner. Still, after come home from school – hungry woh. Classic case of when you’re in the water, you swim.

Today, cooking to me is very much a necessity as well. I don’t enjoy it as much as I should although… when I get in the groove, it is a very happy time for me. Love baking more than every day food. I also like to experiment a lot!

What do you like about cooking? The part when people eat and want more or the actual cooking part?

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Everything Else. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

  • Hooi Imm

    It started out as a necessity for me when I moved to the US. It’s so expensive to eat out or bring food in, unlike in Malaysia.

    Then I got hooked on FoodNetwork and I became very interested in cooking and trying new recipes. My parents and relatives back home are all surprise that I cook so well now.

    What I like about cooking is when the hubby enjoys the food I made and I get the sense of accomplishment when the food turns out well.

  • waterlily

    My mom was a very good cook but I was not a very good student. Plus, I was told that I was clumsy in the kitchen when I was young – so I wasn’t very adventurous to try new things in cooking.
    I started cooking when I was studying in Canada, we used to cook in teams in that house full of international students. After I moved out and starting living on my own, I cooked more and was more willing to try new things.
    My real interest in cooking grew after I got married (and feeling the healthy pressure to impress my in-laws and the church folks, haha) and with a little praise, encouragement, positive feedback, and a healthy dose of failures/mistakes, I became more and more confident…and yeah, now I’m not afraid to try a recipe over and over until I get it.
    To me, the process of cooking means more and gives me more satisfaction than the actual outcome. I also love the part where I lay it out and serve. Also love it when folks like the food and ask me for recipe. HAHA!

  • http://www.tbeeean.blogspot.com Bee Ean

    I learnt cooking really late. I was like 24 when I met hubby. He encourages me to cook. The first meal was fried mihun and it was so oweful, but he ate them all. Everytimes I cooked mihun for him, one day he asked me to try new things. Little by little I tried more stuffs and everytimes he eats them all, bad or good. I don’t enjoy the process of cooking, but I like when my guests finish the meals I prepared.

    I still think I don’t cook well bcos my mother is very good in it. So relatively I always compared my foods to hers. These days hubby comes home for lunch and it’s becoming irritating as I have to cook twice a day instead of one. Luckily he cooks too.

  • RitaHG

    I am like Hooi Imm, cooking became a necessity in the US and Food Network was the only day time tv worth watching. My husband is a great cook (the agak-agak type) and I am competitive, so developed interest fast and churn up a few good dishes.

    I think it is fun to cook when we know what you’re doing. My first attempt back in KL was a disaster and I was banned from cooking for many years. It was just fried rice – heat oil, fry garlic, add meat, peas, carrot, stock, then rice. Simple and easy. Only tproblem, my dish kept putting out air bubbles, lots of them. Called mommy to help. She screamed! I had used dishwashing liquid instead of oil! Stupid developers build the stove so near the sink!

  • waterlily

    RITA!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!!! So no good to see bubbles huh? Sounds like Bart Simpson is cooking!

  • Hooi Imm

    RIta, you crack me up!! LOL!!! Dishwashing liquid!!?? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

  • Lynette

    Oh My Rita! That really brightened up my day LOL. Whoo! Thank goodness it was discovered early hoh?

    Reminds me of the times when mistakenly poured a lot of salt in a dish thinking it’s sugar. Anybody done that?

    I wonder sometimes if I didn’t start so early I would be more motivated to cook or enjoy the cooking process. I was in Home Science and really lah the pressure is sometimes over bearing. Have you guys watches Top Chef? You know those challenges? 2 hours and 30 minute challenges? It felt like that in Home Science exams lah. Some more, presentation got lots of marks. Aiyooo.

  • Nisha

    My mother is a great cook and while I was growing up, all we were allowed to do in the kitchen was the duty of a sous chef – chop, dice, peel and clean…haha. I regret now that I didn’t spend much time in the kitchen learning like I should have since my indian dishes don’t turn out like hers and so I avoid making them as much as possible.

    I didn’t learn to cook until I got married and came to the US. Again, Food Network was also my inspiration and helped me to gain confidence in the kitchen. It was also wonderful that I have a husband who is so grateful that I cook for him that he eats anything and everything that I make without a complaint. Often, he praised me and encouraged me to try being the experimental type. :-)

    It started out as a necessity and now cooking is a joy for me.