My passion to cook (or at least attempt to...)

Cooking is a passion of mine and gives me time to step out of my daily routine. It allows me to experiment, to learn, to please, and equally as often, mess up. Cooking means more than putting a pre-packaged meal into the microwave or throwing a frozen pizza in the oven; it actually means following or making a recipe(s) and preparing a meal.

I haven’t always cooked but granted, growing up, I’d give my parents a helping hand with dinner once in a while. Family meals were always important and we always made time to eat dinner together. There were times when that meant eating dinner late because my sister and I had sports practices or one of my parents was working late.

I think back to my friends and I who even just a few years ago did not have sufficient cooking skills. Yet at some point (not sure of the exact moment) I developed a genuine interest not just in eating good food, but in cooking it too and that was when my cooking skills began to evolve. Perhaps this new culinary vision happened during experience in Barcelona, where by living in an apartment and not wanted to spend all my money eating out (considering 1 euro=$1.5), I had to put my cooking skills to the test.

In Barcelona, I loved the challenge of sourcing unusual ingredients in a country where supermarkets are small, cater for regional tastes, and focus on seasonal food. I was shocked to see a whole octopus, a pig’s head, rabbit feet, and even a brain of an undistinguishable animal right in front of the market for everyone to see. I liked the idea of strolling through La Boqueria, buying fresh ingredients, taking them home, and seeing what I could come up with each night. I quickly realized that with a handful of essential ingredients: olive oil, garlic and tomato, you can make a lot of tapas and meals. The Catalan staple and breakfast favorite, Pa amb tomàquet, involves a thick slice of toasted bread, rubbing some garlic and fresh tomato on top, drizzling a generous amount of olive oil and adding a pinch of salt. So simple and satisfying.

Eating out was a great experience as well—seeing the culture surrounding the food made me appreciate it much more. The long siestas in the afternoon were mainly spent eating lunch outside with family and friends, where there seemed to not be a stress in the world. You would never find anyone walking and eating on the go, or even drinking a large Venti Starbucks cup, which has become the norm in most part of the US.

For me, food encompasses a whole range of things that are important to me. Food brings together families and friends through warmth, smells, taste, and satisfaction.

At Colgate, between balancing school work, a job, involvement in students groups, and a social life, preparing meals certainly takes up a lot of time and we don’t always find the time to do it. Yet, I think food is such a part of who we are and therefore we should all take a break from our busy work days and cook together with friends.