Tales from the kitchen

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

To break the monotony of his long hours at work, my husband would occasionally cook a dish at home. What impressed me the most was the way he would plate it — very eye-catching, attractive, almost professional and delicious.

Sometime in the mid-eighties, I finally mustered the courage to host my husband’s senior Air Force colleagues and their spouses to dinner. I had spent all day in the kitchen. In the evening I left him in charge of the rice when I went to freshen up. I was in for a shock. He was such a disaster. The rice was red.

He had thought that a little colour would make the rice interesting. What he didn’t know is that there is a right time to add colour to the rice, if one so desired, and never ever to the water in which the rice is cooking! I cooked a fresh lot.

Then one day in 2015, he finally retired from his job. He didn’t ask me — he just took over most of the kitchen work, displacing me and my control of it. The pots and pans that were inverted were now face up in their drawers. In his opinion, some needed to be here and not there! After much negotiations, I gave in.

Thus far, I was the one loading the dishwasher and getting it started before shutting down for the night. Since his retirement, he got into the habit of rearranging everything I had loaded. Thereafter, I was only too happy to leave the loading job and the dishwashing entirely to him. I am not complaining!

When I took ill three years ago, he took over the kitchen completely. I was quite bedridden and my mind went back to forty-six years ago when, as a young bride, I didn’t even know how to close a pressure cooker, he would cook quite often.

Being a military wife, I was quite compelled to pick up the finer nuances of cooking. His cooking has gotten very methodical and innovative and he creates his own recipes. Like a true sous chef, he records ingredients with their quantities and cooking instructions in my handwritten recipe book.

My book of handmade paper with a silk embroidered hardcover is labelled: "Mamma's Recipes for future generations!” I've now added, "Dad's too!"