Mistress of spices

Blame it on my mother. Scores of people would agree that she8217;s one of the best cooks in the world. She experiments and I can8217;t remember a time when any 8220;invention8221; bombed. I, on the other hand, spend halfa lifetime in front of the stove and all that comes out is a pale, crude imitation of her creations. I8217;m always searching for that elusive flavour, trying fruitlessly to fashion myself a worthy daughter. My husband says I8217;m getting there. But since I don8217;t like my cooking, the advice made sense 8212; I wouldn8217;t expect Mum-cooked-meals from a hired cook. Besides, it seemed like no one really cooked any more. When I went to visit folks back home, quite a few 8220;aunties8221; were surprised that I worked, travelled more than 50 km daily and still cooked. Even my ma-in-law had someone to make rotis. Maybe my colleagues were right 8212; I shouldn8217;t 8220;waste time8221; cooking and free myself from the endless routine instead.

So I pounced on a colleague who8217;d hired a cook a couple of months earlier. 8220;I want to get rid of her,8221; was her prompt reply. 8220;She can8217;t cook, only pretends to. With the time it takes to instruct and supervise her, I could do the cooking myself. We usually end up eating out.8221; Hmmm8230; strikeone.

Checked with another, married-for-several-years family friend. 8220;Your budget will have to be generous,8221; she said. I was ready to shell out a tidy sum for a good cook. 8220;Not her salary. Mine creates delicious food but too much of it. Sends the budget through the roof. Says we eat too little and accuses us of wasting good food which she conveniently takes home everyday. But I need her so I keep quiet.8221; Didn8217;t fancy paying through my nose for food which wouldn8217;t go into my tummy. Strike two.

Called up another friend whose family had a cook and she assured me that the woman cooked tasty, adequate amounts of food without any real supervision. Aha, so the perfect species still existed, I thought aloud.

8220;Er8230; not exactly,8221; explained the good friend. 8220;She tends to come and go when she likes. Sometimes she cooks for three days and disappears for a week. Or comes at 5 a.m. to make breakfast that goes cold by the time we get to it. Or makes only what she wants to. Once she was too tired to go home anddecided to sleep over in my room. But she8217;s good. And it8217;s not like she8217;s the only erratic cook in the world.8221; With fairly rigid shift timings and irregular off-days, that was not something I could risk. Strike three.

Call me a coward but I have now dissolved the idea of welcoming a quirky individual into my kitchen 8212; wastage of time be dammed. I am now in the process of persuading my mother to consign to paper and send me all her time-saving methods and recipes. And freed from the pressure of trying to depend on someone for my daily daal-chaval, I realise I8217;m mistress of my kitchen, free to experiment the husband is a brave, willing taster and improvise. I8217;ve also realised that I never disliked cooking, so trying to get a cook just was a fad. Someday when I really need help, the right assistant may turn up. Till then, I8217;ll stay a behenji, thank you.