Baking away pandemic blues

Over the last two years, thanks to the pandemic, students and adults are having to spend long hours in front of digital screens. This has affected everyone both physically and mentally. A simple way to beat this is to pick up a non-screen activity that is relaxing, rewarding and which can be squeezed in between online work to break the monotony. Baking fits the bill perfectly!

Baking is a cooking technique which uses mostly, dry heat, while most counter-top cooking, use moist heat. Dry heat cooking involves very high temperatures. Moist heat cooking happens at much lower temperatures. In dry heat cooking, the heat is transferred to the food item without using extra moisture, whereas moist heat cooking uses the moisture from the water or milk in the dish. But in everyday vocabulary, we use the term cooking for all moist heat cooking. Baking, roasting, grilling, toasting are special terms used for the various dry heat cooking.

In our culinary tradition, regular meals are cooked over the stove and is usually viewed as a chore. Baking, on the other hand is perceived to be more fun than traditional cooking! For children, the advantage is that unlike counter top cooking, baking does not involve any action to be done when the heat is turned on. So baking is safe even for preteens. Simple baking requires just one bowl to mix ingredients in and so cleaning up the kitchen is that much simpler.

The process of baking also resembles a science experiment. Children need to remain focused on the job and follow the procedures to the letter. The ingredients need to be added carefully by measuring or weighing. The cooking temperature and time have to be strictly adhered to. All the ingredients have to be lined up before start and the mixing done in the right order. Once the mix is ready, all that remains to done is to set the temperature and timer and place the dish in a pre-heated oven. At the end of the set time, a delicious aroma will waft in from the kitchen to announce that the dish is done.

If you have a baker at home, all the necessary appliances would be readily available. Otherwise, it is never a waste to invest in some basic items like a simple oven, weighing scales, measuring spoons, baking dishes and parchment paper. As for recipes, you will find scores of them through online search. And once you get the hang of it, you can get creative and think up new recipes.

(During the pandemic, many children have gone down a digital rabbit hole. But hobbies can help in the holisitic development of a child. Towards this end, DH’s monthly series ‘Creative minds’ will introduce your children to new hobbies they can explore and pursue.)