Today I welcome blogger mom Varsha Bagadia who blogs about her cooking experiments among other things.She has written a very warm and loving post about discovering cooking love. I hope you love it as much as I did.
The Chef
My earliest memories of him weren’t pleasant. While I hung around and fidgeted restlessly my mother clung to every word he said, followed every action he made and religiously jotted down everything that interested her in her thick, priced well-worn book she had maintained since her own college days. All I saw instead was some sweet-smiling, podgy, dressed-in-white chef called Sanjeev Kapoor and the show was called Khana Khazana. :-/
My initial resentment notwithstanding, cookery shows like this catered to that dormant chef inside and forged an interesting bond between Mom and me. We discussed at length our displeasure over a twisted traditional recipe or the respite after discovering an authentic way to prepare something novel. By the time I got married there were other channels and shows, the MasterChef series and lot more. Our conversations continued unhindered over the phone! 🙂
Helpful pointers for healthy cooking as well as sinful creations for indulgence kept me hooked to them during my pregnancy and even after I delivered. When my son was younger we watched as many recipes as we watched cartoons! Soon enough the interested boy started insisting on sitting on the kitchen platform and observing me while I chopped vegetables, rolled chapatis or brewed tea. He even taught his Dad how to make Maggi, ‘Mamma style’. 😉
Now 9yo, he follows a recipe if I am not around and places demands for it, offers help when he’s home and makes milk for him and his baby sister without my supervision. Most importantly, he knows that cooking isn’t gender specific. Everybody cannot be a chef but basic cooking knowledge is a must for our own benefit. This is the classic case of history repeating itself, I hope. 🙂
This post has been written in tune with the blog fest being celebrated on my blog all of september as Shalzmojo turns one as a self hosted blog!!
Thank you so much for having me as guest blogger and making me part of your blog anniversary celebrations, Shalz. Congratulations again! Loved doing this. ❤
Very heart-warming!
One day, if your son starts to think that cooking is, or ought to be, gender specific – you can tell him there’s nothing sexier than a man who can cook, and takes his turn at it. 🙂
Beautiful post here Varsha, I can relate to when you said – you and mom sat together for the shows and criticized all the minute details of ruining an age old recipe.. that was our favorite time too 😉
Lovely feature Shalini..
That’s something so good to hear about little boys also showing keen interest in cooking and such activities which are generally considered female-specific. I have always encouraged my 8 yo nephew to help out in the kitchen as does his mum and now we have a budding chef who yearns to help out with the recipe we prepare! Not just that, he also cleans up the kitchen platform and washes the dishes after use…something he does wholeheartedly! I hope the trend continues! Keeping fingers crossed!