backstory: kat

As described briefly in our bio/introduction, I didn't really start cooking at all until I moved to Morocco and discovered that I would be feeding myself and that my roommate was equally inept at cooking for herself. Our first attempts at meals were disappointing and frustrating. We bought great fresh produce from the local markets and put common ingredients together, only to have lackluster results, both in appearance and taste. Even after it started visually resembling food a bit better, our "cuisine" still stood far wide of the mark of satiating our taste buds. I love food and started feeling desperate and irritated. In addition to being hungry for a good meal, my ego was not enjoying a challenge without even sporadic triumphs. I can't remember now exactly how it happened, but I think me cooking truly edible food started with me recreating some recipes vaguely described to me by my Italian host mom, Pia, on one of my last nights in Siena in 2007. She had mentioned handfuls of ingredients and cooking suggestions to make homemade tomato sauce for pasta, vegetable soup, and a chicken and rice dish. Despite the lack of distinct, measured ingredients and descriptive instructions, her "recipes" came out winners. My roommate and I were thrilled to discover these foolproof meals, us playing the fool. I started playing with combinations that sounded familiar - Asian stir fry, vegetable soups, etc - using whatever in-season vegetables the Maarif market and Acima had to offer, and started feeling more sated by my meals. These experiences gave me some confidence that perhaps I lacked guidance more than ability, and the next indelibly influential step was finding Smitten Kitchen. I am not even sure how or where I linked to the site, but it changed everything. I started off with her recipes for homemade pizza dough and bread without timetable. I was thrilled and complimented to hear my roommates and coworkers exclaiming that my pizza was delicious and they had never had such luck with bread. My small successes propelled me on. By the end of the school year in Morocco, I had experimented with several SK recipes:

·      Caramelized Onion and Cauliflower Tart

·      Homemade pizza dough

·      No knead bread

·      Chicken Tacos and Salsa Fresca

·      Homemade thick, chewy granola bars

·      Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding)

·      Rosemary flatbread

·      Walnut pesto

·      Jacked-up banana bread

·      Asparagus, artichoke, and shiitake risotto

·      Bread without timetable 

I also tried a handful of recipes (fried eggplant, potato chips, date and ginger couscous pudding, overnight yeast pancakes, candied orange wedges, baba ganoush, Israeli hummus, pumpkin gnocchi, apple pie) from other sources, and despite their success, SK was the one I swore allegiance to. I am sure a lot of it has to do with her aesthetic - the site is clean and neatly organized, simply designed, and features several pictures for every recipe. As a visual learner, I appreciate seeing her steps, especially in an aesthetically pleasing presentation. She is honest and experimental, giving me the confidence not to follow the recipe exactly.

This is a necessity for me if for no other reason that living abroad dictates that you will not be able to find everything for every recipe. Sometimes, you can find better things, but not always. In Morocco, my kitchen was very sparsely furnished, so I cooked using regular spoons and water glasses for measurement, the same two pots and one skillet for cooking, one glass casserole, and one baking sheet. Learning to cook without correct measurements makes you realize how flexible most recipes are. Having vanilla beans readily available but no vanilla extract, candied ginger pieces but no breadcrumbs, and so on makes you realize what spices are interchangeable, replaceable, and unnecessary. Fresh, in-season fruit and vegetables are always best, and I love cooking with a seasonal flavor (like pumpkin and squash for fall), their recipes seem to complement the weather and my mood.  I prefer hand- and home-made to store-bought whenever possible, half the charm is that its never as perfect.

And most importantly, I learned that cooking, being in the kitchen, was the best therapy for me. My brain is always running a million miles a minute, overanalyzing anything and everything I encounter and experience, and working on a concentrated tangible task is the only time I have noticed it stopping and focusing on one controlled thing. I think that is why I loved book making and painting illuminated letters in Siena so much - there was no space for the error that would occur if my mind drifted. Unlike many of my teammates and friends, working out rarely offered the same escape. So cooking became my regular diversion, an opportunity for peace of mind, concentration, and the chance to create something physical - a rarity in my life of verbal communication and typed words.

I am 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time and I have to wake up to teach four hours starting at 8 am tomorrow, so I will finish this in a future post tomorrow - I wanted to post images of my favorite recipes or best pictures, in my opinion. Until then, добер вечер, good evening!