August 12, 2024

A Lesson

I do dislike learning. Or, being told to learn. Even if I’m the one doing the telling. I have not read much of “Start Here”. I know I should - not just for this, but because it was a gift and I am interested, but instead I have done what I do for most recipe books - flick through until something catches my eye.

I flicked through (and back) to get to page seventeen - Seasoning Lessons. This was a few days ago, so a few days ago, I put a cucumber in the basket. Cucumber and raitha are the two options with which to start the lesson tree with, and cucumber is more part of my everyday. And then I didn’t really want cucumber. I didn’t want to use it in meals, I didn’t want to include it, I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to have to learn (and consequently, have no excuse not to continue this).

Today, I made a cucumber salad. I took a whole cucumber, I bashed it (fairly ineffectually - barely a cracked internal wall), chopped it in rings, then halved those. I still haven’t read the whole page, but the key box says “Taste” twice. So I tasted the cucumber. Then I sprinkled some salt. Tasted again. Then some lemon juice. Tasted. Then MSG. Tasted. Ten sugar. Tasted (the sugar was odd for me too). Each taste did, boringly enough, demonstrate an improvement. The lemon gave it a flavour, the MSG a kind of depth and body. Stupid doing what I’m told.

Of course, key to this project is to ensure that I’m not doing things just to write about them, but writing about doing things and how things are done (and other stuff, jeez, get off my back, I’ll get to it). I partly didn’t want to make a cucumber salad those first few days because, well, I didn’t want a cucumber salad. I kept thinking it would suit an Asian-vibe, but it was a beautiful day, so we cooked burgers over the fire pit. Cucumber salad could have been made to go alongside, but…eh. I want to make things from the book, but not if it tangles me in knots.

Anyhoo, the cucumber salad was for lunch, to go with leftovers. Not Asian-vibe, but Italian-vibe. The next box is “mix-ins”¹, and I had some steamed beets to add. Sounds amazingly mid-century, but here we are. Grandpa Chuggins and his steamed beets. So I cut, added, tasted. Added the MSG, sugar, salt, lemon juice again. Added croutons. Added tiny sprouts of basil that have been growing on cotton wool on the counter. Then I called it, and said: “Lunch is ready”.

You’ll note that I have not repeatedly put in “Tasted”. Not to avoid repetition (you’ll just have to get used to that), but because I didn’t really. If I put any in my mouth between adding the beets and serving, it was cursory. I got bored. I made no more adjustments.

I mean, it was tasty. We ate it right up. It went well with a side of yesterday’s spaghetti (we must have our starches to fill us up). But did I actually follow the recipe? A bit. But I haven’t leaned anything more than not all salads need oil.

So, I’m going to make it again. I’m going to taste, test and perfect. I am still going to use ingredients to hand, and only if I actually think I want cucumber salad, but I’m going to try. Try to learn.