The Foodie turns Cook!

I never have shied away from the fact that I am a die-hard foodie at heart. I love to eat and have always been fond of trying out different cuisines and dishes. My visit to any city would always be incomplete without trying out the delicacies that the city has to offer. And I specifically thrive on the local cuisines, which is best found in the street food options the cities have on offer. To that effect, I have definitely taken after my father. He too was a die-hard foodie, albeit with a slight difference that he had a very partial inclination to Bengali food!

Another major difference is that unlike dad, I was a lousy cook! Baba was an excellent cook, so much so that he could tell whether a dish had turned out perfectly or not just by smelling it! I would watch him passing on instructions to my dear wifey, who would be toiling away in the kitchen, so that the dish been prepared turned out just right. I could not help but marvel at his skills as a cook. He would often tell me to learn how to cook up a decent meal but I would always shy away from this; I could see no reason why I should learn to cook!

I first realized why I should have listened to him and learnt to cook when I was transferred by my company to Kolkata in 2013 to take charge of operations of the eastern region. As it was a mid-term transfer, I could not move my family with me to Kolkata. The first few weeks were like a blessing for me. The foodie in me was just overwhelmed trying out the variety of food options the City of Joy had to offer. But slowly I realised that while eating out could be fun for a couple of days or maybe weeks, it surely was not going to be an option for the longer run, neither for my health nor my pocket!

That was the start of my attempts to make a cook out of me. I soon realized that it was no child's play. Leave alone cooking, even cutting vegetables seemed to take me hours. But, I persisted with my attempts. I would call up my wife and ask her to share the recipes for common Bengali dishes which I could prepare. Very soon, I had a notebook filled with recipes of dishes and that was like my Bible. Slowly but surely I started catching on the nuances of cooking and though I could not cook up a feast, I could turn up a decent meal which was quite palatable!

It would now be safe to say that I am not in awe of cooking anymore and though I don't need to cook on a daily basis, I do ruffle up a few dishes now and then, especially when dear wifey is out. And that is one complaint she has! So, I plan to treat her to a few home-made dishes on her birthday which falls in April. And yes, that would include a cake too!

I leave you now with pics of few dishes cooked by me. Trust me, these turned out yummy! Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. If you like it, please leave a comment.

Ciao, till my next post.