I've had a few people ask me lately how I got into cooking. I'm not when it happened, but I discovered cooking at home. For school, I put on a full traditional Icelandic meal for my family and I used every dish and utensil we owned! My poor parents kindly offered to do the dishes but asked me to learn to clean up as I go! Then I put on a Seder meal with a full Jewish passover ceremony. Once I started university, my ability to do daily chores was drastically compromised by the amount of homework and the fact that I had classes preventing me from being home around the dinner hour. So Sundays became my day in the kitchen.
Every Sunday prior to going to church I would prepare a roast, stick it in the oven and prepare the side dishes. We were conservative in our food - we stuck to our favourites, experimented very little and there was little room for adventure of the sorts you have seen on this blog. But my desire to try something different started in the kitchen in my home town with the Sunday roast. I would experiment with the spices and would never give away my secret ingredients for fear that no one would actually eat the lunch I have prepared. The roasts became my one thing that I could prepare without a recipe far better than anyone else in the home.
Once I started living on my own I enjoyed being able to experiment. I bought a slow cooker which became my favourite appliance for cooking. I had my successes and failures - I could cook a mean chili! But I learned the hard way that 2 cans of jalepeno peppers is a lot of peppers to slow cook for 10 hours! and as much as it saves time, putting 5 cups of dry rice in a slow cooker with the appropriate amount of water and butter means that I have to eat rice for the rest of the month.
And then one day I had my heart broken. One of my mentors gave me a brilliant idea - she spoke of how much I love cooking and suggested that I choose a nationality and cook and master that food. She said that way I can turn my pain and sadness into something good, as well as prepare for the day when the right one would come along. I think that was one of the best pieces of advice that I have ever heard in my life. My colleagues and I had recently gone to a Moroccan restuarant and I had instantly fallen in love with the spices used. So I decided to master Moroccan food.
I started with a chicken tajine, a dish with lots of tomatoes and onions! I began serving this to relatives and friends. For Christmas, my cousins gave me a Moroccan cookbook and I was in heaven! I made kefta, a spicy flavourful meatball in a yummy spicy sauce!
After 10 or so months of practicing, I was ready to put on my first full Moroccan evening. For my third anniversary of my Exodus, I decided to celebrate with a few friends. Since Moroccan food had special significance I decided to cook for about 6-7 of my closest friends. I made kefta, zucchini salad, moroccan spiced chicken, carrot salad, couscous and a rosewater milk pudding. It was a successful dinner!
Some people ask why I chose Moroccan food? I chose it because I didn't know anyone else who did it. It became my thing. I do things outside of the box, if everyone does it, I have no interest in it!
My summer supervisor quickly learned of my love for cooking and I agreed to cook a fancy Moroccan meal for the last night of our Leaders in Training Experience for the youth. The meal had many of the same recipes as well as a few others and a pastry dessert that proved most challenging without a fully stocked kitchen!
It did not take long for cooking Moroccan food to move from being a way to heal to being a way to have fun. I discovered how much I love the process of cooking, the turning ordinary ingredients into something extraordinary. I love trying new recipes, especially ones with ingredients that I don't think will work together! I can spend hours cooking. Cooking is not only a way I relax, but a way that I connect with God. I turn on the music and truly enjoy God's company for the hours of food preparation.
I have since moved on to different nationalities. Moroccan food is no longer a favourite, but it does hold a special place in my life. I am so thankful for the advice that i was given. I don't think I would have discovered how much I love cooking, or how amazing saffron and turmeric are. I would never have known what a tagine is or how to prepare a jalepeno pepper. Here are a few pictures from before the start of this blog that show a little of what I have done.
Salad with Blackberries Carrot and Coconut Loaf Chocolate Stew
with Dijon & Parsley dressing
Coconut Dhal Best Kraft Dinner ever! Cajun Quinoa
Indian Fruit Salad with Syrian Lentil Meal Peanut Butter, Broccoli and Tofu
Peppercorns and Fennel
It has been through cooking in many ways that I have discovered my calling in life.... one of the many aspects of the life I anticipate having is one in which I am involved with hospitality ministries. I've started now. Sometimes I cook a fancy meal for myself. Other times I plan to have a few people over to cook with me. Others still, I start a meal and spontaneously invite others to come and join me. Often it is last minute. I dream of teaching cooking and nutrition. I dream of creating a study curriculum that combines seeking God and food at the same time.
I collect cookbooks, sauces, vinegars and spices. I am eager to try new foods. So far I have dabbled quite a bit in Moroccan, Indian, Ethiopian, Japanese and now I've started the Caribbean. Next stop: Poland, Germany and Eastern Europe.
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