TAKING turns caring for our mom with my two other siblings has brought back memories of being her assistant in the kitchen as a child.
That was a long time ago, and now mom, who’s turning 89 in May this year, is no longer confident about working around the kitchen where she reigned till early this year. A few days into January this year, she packed up her induction stove, saying she feared she would forget to turn it off. From there started her decline.
With the help of Pranic healing though, she’s making a comeback, but the kitchen will no longer be her turf. It’s time to put away her pots and pans.
I have managed to confound a few of my friends who had the privilege of watching me browse through the hodge-podge of random stuff inside a ref that they thought could not even make up a decent viand but which I could turn into flavorful dishes in a jiffy. No fanfare, no chef-level chopping and slicing, no braggadocio over this and that herb or ingredient. Just a quiet run-through of whatever’s available and what needs to be bought from the sari-sari store, pronto!
And… voila! Let’s eat good food.
This skill of whipping out anything from scratch was developed from mom’s simple critique of the food at one party we attended: “Walang hindi masarap sa kumpleto ang sangkap (Food that has all the ingredients can never taste bad).”
Of course, others will argue with this idea. Many will insist on measurements and procedures. I would just brush those off and stick to this guiding light she shed while I was still an impressionable young girl. The sangkap for me, however, is not the main ingredients. I have learned from mom’s kitchen that there will be times when we won’t have the main ingredients, especially when prices are high.
In mom’s kitchen, I learned the skill of making do. But I never compromise on the herbs and the condiments. These are the ingredients that give a special zing to any food. Thus, my kitchen is rarely without bulbs of garlic and onions, black pepper, paprika, and dried chili, and dried herbs, most especially basil and rosemary. The oregano and ginger I just get from my flowerpots.
This cooking tip can be applied to any other endeavor outside the kitchen. It’s akin to mastering the art of making do. It has to be “mastering” because making do can go two ways: (1) to settle down with mediocrity or the “pwede na” or (2) you can fix your eyes on whipping out something magical with what is on hand by always being ready with recourse should materials not be up to par.
Now that I’m taking it easy away from the stress and pressures of being editor-in-chief, I have more time to cook, to push this kitchen tip to its fullest potential, and find joy in my mom’s enthusiastic eating.
-o0o-
*Stella is a Pranic Healing educator and an Arhatic Yoga practitioner. Email:
saestremera@gmail.com, fb: /saestremera, IG: @saestremera