My Culinary Journey
One of the nice things about being a student is you get random days off without lectures or tutes. You’re technically supposed to catch up on reading and reflect on the material covered, but that doesn’t tend to happen unless exams are knocking on the door. Today is one such day, I’m planning on reading a couple of journal articles this afternoon but till then I’m taking it easy. I put on my Bob Dylan CD and decided to make some preparations for dinner, grilled rainbow trout! I love fish, and back at home I make sure to bring home some Red Mullet or Garoupa every so often. Rainbow Trout isn’t anywhere near as good as Mullet or Garoupa, but beggars can’t be choosers. I just put the fellow to marinate in an assortment of stuff including Nando’s Hot Peri Peri sauce. What I love about cooking is the freedom it gives you to experiment with flavours and come up with new stuff pretty much every time. When I first went to uni for undergrad I didn’t have a clue as to how to cook, since I was in catered accommodation I didn’t think it would matter too much. But that was until I tasted the food. After 3 weeks I had had enough, I think the turning point was when one day for dinner it was Tandoori chicken that was simply boiled chicken in some red colouring. I stopped eating Hall food and resorted to eating seeni sambol sandwiches for dinner and ham sandwiches for breakfast. I lost almost 20 kilos in my first term so I had no choice but to learn to cook, pronto.
Unsurprisingly my first attempts went rather drastically wrong. I still remember my first parippu, I overcooked it and most of it got burnt till the saucepan and lentil grains became one. I tried to boil an egg but didn’t realise that you need to keep it in boiling water for 5 mins, I kept the egg in water over a fire for 5 mins and each time it wasn’t even soft boiled. Wasted many an egg that day. I came back the next term armed with Larich curry mixes and I was on my way. Chicken curries, Pork curries, parippus, bonchi kirata and ala kiri hodis emerged like magic, just cut the stuff up, put the curry mix, some water or coconut milk powder and say abracadabra. In my second year in uni I evolved from the curry mix stage and learnt how to cook using thuna paha and other spices, with practice, a bit of experimentation and a solid cook book, I became better. I cooked for the new Sri Lankan kids who joined that year and every Saturday night there’d be dinner at my place. The variety improved as well, I experimented with Wambotu, Cucumber, Wattakka and other veges along with roast and grilled chicken and pork chops. In my third year I moved in with a couple of Sri Lankans and some Germans and together we came up with some quite decent meals on a regular basis. I learnt to make Roti and pol sambol using dessicated cocounut, PseudoGotukola sambola using watercress leaves and lamb curry. I tried my hand at a few western dishes too and they turned out ok, Pasta with smoked salmon and dill, Spaghetti Bolognaise, baked macaroni and pan fried fish. I tried to become too clever a couple of times and tried making rabbit and pigeon (on separate occassions) and it didn’t turn out too flash. But more often than not cooking didn’t go wrong bc once you got the basics it’s hard to go wrong and you can adapt as you wish, judging flavours by instinct and using your imagination.
Cooking has become more of a hobby than a chore now, it can be relaxing and enjoyable if you got the right mindset. The only annoying part is washing up, but then what are housemates for? 
