The show that was (My Food Show in Mumbai)

Both my parents work and hence the household chores are dispensed out to maids and cooks. Over the many years we have had a range of cooks. I disliked most of them, simply because I was a difficult, obstinate child (*pl. note the past tense, WAS... I have new respect for all my former cooks and salute them for their boundless patience.) who wanted to sample all the unhealthy food ever created by mankind! The cooks on the other hand were forced to listen to my parents (their employers) and cook healthy food!! In my early “tweens” (early 20s), I reformed and directed my food cravings elsewhere.... just ate out! But even before I had achieved my freedom and learnt not to blame the cooks, I grew fond of this particular cook. She was a very docile lady, always soft spoken and impeccably dressed. She was short (barely reached my shoulders), had really long hair that she wore in an elegant plait and was eternally in a hurry! She used to sprint from place to place that made her gait pretty comical! So this pleasant lady was my favorite cook not only cause she was a delight to cook with... but cause she was always eager to cook something fancy!

That's how it was in Mumbai for me... this cook used to do all the cutting and pruning and I would then arrive... and just throw some things in the pan and ask her to fry/cook it...once that was done to my desired level of perfection, I would then return to toss some masalas and then leave with my final directions!! My dear cook would smile and follow. She was very excited to learn new things from me and would be an ideal eager student!! She once even thanked me for teaching her how to make the basic pasta dish and operate the microwave! She was slightly intimated by anything more fancy than the stove and was very cautious when she handled the oven or the microwave. Alternately, she would play the part of teacher when I wanted to learn the basic, not so fancy everyday dishes. Very patiently she would show me how to make chapattis and even give me little tips that went a long way! For some reason she was in awe of me and that always amused me!

We also had another cook-+-maid who was very bubbly and a chatterbox. She talked incessantly and kind of butted in my life a lot... so she wasn’t my fav. but I still owe her a lot. She never backed out of my cooking missions and always shared my enthusiasm with equal zeal. When the other (my fav one) cook wasn’t around, she used to do the cutting and basic preparation for me. I also owe her for teaching me how to make “out of this world” phulkas! They would make even the most accomplished Gujrati cooks envious! :P

I do miss being the star of my own show... ofcourse, cooking was never a challenge thanks to these incredible women. And then ofcourse came my audience.... my mum and grandma... who instantly approved anything I made. Mum was always a GREAT sport.. she is not fussy about food and as long as she doesn’t have to cook...loves everything I made!


The chatterbox==>

Sigh!! If only there was a time machine that could take me back in time... on second thoughts.. if I would probably have to live through engineering school once again... so no thank you... I am happy being here, just reminiscing at times about my happy happy showitmes! :)