Last week has been pretty busy with all kind of non art related stuff: daily swimming and walking exercises, sewing clothes, volunteering and reading.
At the moment I am reading a great book by Monica Pradhan: the Hindi-Bindi club. The story is about Indian mothers and their American born and raised daughters and their complex relationships, if you like you can read more in this excerpt. Each chapter is written by one of the mothers or daughters and concludes with a recipe of authentic Indian food. I feel that there is a correlation between the heroines in this book and my own life. Almost fourty years ago I married my husband. He is from Indian parents that were born and raised in Surinam and his grandparents travelled to this country from India to work as coolies after the slavery was officially ended in 1864 (or so).
So from the beginning of our marriage I learned to eat and appreciate Indian food and over time I bought several Indian cookbooks and gained moderate experience. On our island we have several Indian restaurants which we visit regularly and roti for lunch every now and then is a big favorite! However, preparing roti's myself is a thing I never have done. That is mainly because my mother in law acts quite superior in all kind of subjects, but especially in cooking. After having been told once that the way I chopped garlic was completely wrong, I decided to never again cook in her presence, since I could and still cannot understand what difference it makes. But I digress...
The above may be one of the reasons that I like this book so much: the 'struggle' between the mothers and their daughters, the generation and cultural gap and the way they are able to overcome the differences by eg. cooking.
At the moment I am reading a great book by Monica Pradhan: the Hindi-Bindi club. The story is about Indian mothers and their American born and raised daughters and their complex relationships, if you like you can read more in this excerpt. Each chapter is written by one of the mothers or daughters and concludes with a recipe of authentic Indian food. I feel that there is a correlation between the heroines in this book and my own life. Almost fourty years ago I married my husband. He is from Indian parents that were born and raised in Surinam and his grandparents travelled to this country from India to work as coolies after the slavery was officially ended in 1864 (or so).
So from the beginning of our marriage I learned to eat and appreciate Indian food and over time I bought several Indian cookbooks and gained moderate experience. On our island we have several Indian restaurants which we visit regularly and roti for lunch every now and then is a big favorite! However, preparing roti's myself is a thing I never have done. That is mainly because my mother in law acts quite superior in all kind of subjects, but especially in cooking. After having been told once that the way I chopped garlic was completely wrong, I decided to never again cook in her presence, since I could and still cannot understand what difference it makes. But I digress...
The above may be one of the reasons that I like this book so much: the 'struggle' between the mothers and their daughters, the generation and cultural gap and the way they are able to overcome the differences by eg. cooking.
I think this subject is very actual in a wider context, not only in Indian vs western community, but also with all the migration that is taking place all over the world. In Europe we see this gap with migrants from eg. Morocco, Algeria and Turkey and their offspring that was born in Europe.
Inspired by the Hindi Bindi book, I have decided to restart my experimenting with Indian cooking.
So yesterday I visited our local Indian supermarket and found some very specific ingredients. What to think of Anardana and Asafoetida? These names alone make me curious to give it a try!! Although I already have a pretty collection of exotic mixtures in my kitchen, I had never heard about these...
Next week my husband is off island some days and I plan to experiment and try all the recipes during his absence. My collagemaking and quiltmaking will be put aside for a short period. But cooking is also being creative, at least that's my feeling when I make 'magic' happen in my kitchen! If possible I will show you some results,
Inspired by the Hindi Bindi book, I have decided to restart my experimenting with Indian cooking.
So yesterday I visited our local Indian supermarket and found some very specific ingredients. What to think of Anardana and Asafoetida? These names alone make me curious to give it a try!! Although I already have a pretty collection of exotic mixtures in my kitchen, I had never heard about these...
Next week my husband is off island some days and I plan to experiment and try all the recipes during his absence. My collagemaking and quiltmaking will be put aside for a short period. But cooking is also being creative, at least that's my feeling when I make 'magic' happen in my kitchen! If possible I will show you some results,
Thanks for reading!
1 comment:
Good luck with your creative cooking and yes, it is an art! I had a mother-in-law from the Ukraine and she did give me lessons but was sure I didn't have the taste buds for creating certain dishes. So long ago, now I create without harsh words and believe I enjoy myself more! Happy eating!
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