Toastmaster, ladies and gentlemen
I have always loved cooking and it has always been my stress releasing technique, for the aroma of frying garlic or a freshly baked chocolate cake. the colors of a marble cake, or a fruit salad. the sizzling sound of breaking mustard seeds can fix my mood faster than anything else. In Sri Lanka cooking is serious business. Specially the curries. There are so many spices and to blend these spices in the right proportion is an art. There are thousands of curries be it, vegetable curries, fish curries, meat curries, bean curries and much more but the interesting fact is you will never eat the same curry in two places because each person blend these spices according to their gut feeling.
I learned the basics of traditional Sri Lankan cooking from my mom at the age of 8. No one can teach you how to cook curries. You have to observe it and you really have to try it yourself. Believe me the written proportions never work when it comes to cooking curries. This is why it cannot be done by a perfectionist, I am not here to teach you how to cook, but I’m rather interested in the life lessons I have learned from cooking.
Julia child is one of the most famous lady chefs in the history of cooking and she is the person who revealed the secrets of French cuisine to the world. She puts it very bluntly, “The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude” In other words you have to let go the fear of mistakes. This is why I love cooking. In fact some of the most popular food are the results of mistakes. In 1930 An American chef made ran out of baker’s chocolate for her chocolate cookies. With no other option she put sweetened chocolates instead but it didn’t melt as she expected and that mistake led to the origin of the beloved chocolate chip cookies. It is the same with life, dare to make mistakes for nothing else can set you back from achieving greatness than the fear of failure.
I learnt the power of simplicity by cooking.
There’s a very famous sour fish dish in Sri lanka called ambul thiyal. I have never cooked that dish while I was in Sri Lanka for my dad always wants to prepare it himself. So I didn’t know how to cook it and I was trying all the recipes in inter-net and used so many spices in different combination but I couldn’t get the authentic taste. Since my mother in law cooks it very well I asked her how? Some recipes we inherit, and some we get married to. I was really surprised by her answer because that is the only Sri Lankan dish which uses only one spice “pepper”. The recipe was so simple but I could have never guessed it. I tried it and I got the taste from the first try. Therefore never underestimate the power of simplicity for as per Einstein any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
For me the most exciting part of cooking is experiencing difference cultures. I love cooking not only Sri lankan cooking but also anything that is delicious. I love the spiciness in Indian biriyani, the freshness in Japanese sushi, cheese and tomato based Italian pizzas and pastas, greasy food of America, mutton dominated Arabic dishes. Stir fried Chinese dishes Wonderful Mexican food. Cooking is a universal language as much as music. For I might not speak French but I know how their food taste like. The wonderful thing is even the people from different races who has political issues might also enjoy the food of their rivals. In Sri Lanka we enjoy eating tamil food as much as tamils enjoy eating Sinhalese food, Pakistanians cherish Indian food and vise versa. Cooking has no boundaries. Therefore when we look at the bigger picture cooking can be the link that connects all human beings.
In cooking we mixes various ingredients in different propotions. Some ingredients are dominating such as salt. Salt is one of the most essential ingredients which highlights the other flavors but Once you pass the exceeding limit there’s no coming back. It’s the same with life and work. Our job is essential in life but if you let it dominates your life, it might get bitter.
Cooking can mean different things to each of us but for the single ladies out there don’t forget that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach
