My First Cooking Experience

As far as I can remember, my mom used to cook for us, and I sometimes used to help her with few things in the kitchen. Later my sisters joined her in the cooking. But she’s the type that doesn’t force children to learn how to cook. Though it’s important but she just believed we would learn as she does most of the things for us and also invite us to the kitchen every time she’s cooking. I remember one of those days, she would tell us some nice stories and how she used to cook when she was young. She was the first born of her parents, so she learned most of the things when she was very young. She also told us how she used to go to their farm to fetch some fresh vegetables and prepare them for the family. These and many more were the interesting stories she told us then. We were always anticipating to hear some of those stories. And while in the kitchen, the aroma of the food that she’s preparing are also fizzling into our nostrils. So we can’t just but be with her in the kitchen and enjoy the nice stories she shares with us. It was always a good time in the kitchen. All along, I was passively learning how she does most of the cooking but wasn’t paying so much attention into it. This continued until the very first day I had to cook by myself. I was going to prepare rice and beans concoction because I love rice and beans when I was young. I still love it now but not as then. I could eat it every day all day. It was my number one favourite. And my mom knew this. So, anytime she really wants to please me, she would just prepare it or ask my sisters to do. They also liked it as well. So, on this faithful day when I needed to cook, many questions came to my mind including how I would not screw things up and waste the food I was going to prepare. This happened when I’ve already gained admission to a higher institution. I can’t remember anytime I did a complete cooking when I was still at home. I helped my mom with most of the things in the kitchen like manual grinding of pepper, cutting of onions, peppers and vegetables, and pounding of yam and other items, but not to do the whole cooking all by myself. So, I was always helping her with one or two things in the kitchen. While I was doing my first cooking, I was really anticipating how the result would be and gist my mom how my first cooking experience was. Eventually, I surmounted courage to start and put water inside the pot and put it on fire. When the water has come to boil, I put the beans I’ve washed inside it and I was trying to remember how my mom and sisters used to prepare it then. You know that moment when you have no clue what to do next but just trying to remember how things should be done, but you know you won’t get the result you want if you don’t follow the right order. I was there expecting good outcome from my first cooking. Some minutes after, I added parboiled rice that I had rinsed inside water. Then I mixed the rice with the beans that’s already partially cooked. I wouldn’t have time to prepare stew, and didn’t have enough ingredients, so I decided to do concoction where I would add everything together in one pot. I waited and allowed the mixture to boil. I was constantly checking to see if I would need to add more water and I did couple of times. I remember my mom used to allow the food to boil and allow enough heat to cook the food before she checked, so I did likewise. When I noticed that the rice and beans are about to be finally done, I added pepper and oil, with all the seasonings and salt to taste. Then I eventually closed it to allow final cooking. Lo and behold, my rice and beans is finally done. All the time I spent was approximately 55 minutes. I tasted it and loved it. I was like wow! I finally did it. Even though in my mind, it was as if I’ve cooked it before. But I know that it was the first time I was cooking all by myself without support from anyone. The fact that I thought I had cooked before in my mind was an evidence that all the cooking that I had seen my mom and sisters did had been registered in my mind subconsciously and I knew I could do it by myself also. There are many things like that that we thought we don’t know how to do or have not really learn how to do but in a way, by watching other people did it, the process has been registered in our minds and we could go to replicate that process. Our brain doesn’t deceive us on what we can do and what we cannot do. If we have seen something done over and over again, it would be registered in our mind and we would be able to replicate it. So, that was how my first cooking experience was and when I told my mom she was happy. Later on, she told me few things I need to work on next time to have a better result. I ate and enjoyed my rice and beans concoction that I cooked for the first time.