I’d hate to admit it but I’ve realised that I am a creature of habit. Like my boys. No wonder @spalifekainaz once said, ‘you’ve become a cat.’ Which, when I was in college, was a compliment.
I need to be at our dining table when I write my breakfast updates.
At my desk when writing long copy.
In either case, in absolute silence. And minimal disturbance.
I can’t cook if there are others in the kitchen.
That dogma broke when I did a series of cooking videos for @indiafoodnetwork a decade back which were shot in our kitchen which was a bit bigger then. I got used to having two cameramen peering over my shoulders and the producer standing beside me. Real life Mumbai kitchens are rather tiny. Most of the food shows you see on TV are shot in decrepit bungalows in Madh Island.
From then on I didn’t mind if we were hosting a party at home and a friend or two dropped into the kitchen while I tossed pasta or stirred Hakka noodles.
I can’t cook when there are others cooking in the kitchen. Whether it’s our cooks or family. I’ve noticed that they tend to use the entire kitchen while cooking and it looks like a disaster zone. They do clean up later.
Apart from solitude, I need order. Like our boys.
I really wanted to have French toast/ deem pauruti today using the last of the @suzettebakery rye sourdough
#kayteecooks came to work just then and her sister, our cleaning lady was there already. There’s not much space left in our kitchen with the two ladies of, er, substance inside.
I took charge. Sent lil sis to clean the other rooms. Told #kayteecooks I am making breakfast and chopped while she chopped and ground; then made my toast while giving her recipes for shorshe ilish and potol posto and tava kaleji which she had to make. I added a bit more oil than normal as I didn’t have the mind space for the touchplay required when cooking with less oil. #kayteecooks had a bit of a bravado which intimidated me in the beginning as she would often try to correct me. After a year we have established that there’s a lot she has to learn and which I can teach her. Now she doesn’t do what my mother would term as matobbori in Bengali.
#finelychoppedbreakfasts #kitchenpolitics #indianfood
