First Time In The Kitchen

There will always be a first to try something. Yeah, I mean that very first time you did something. My mom asked me to man the kitchen one morning like that. That instruction sent shivers down my spine. I have never done anything serious in the kitchen other than to boil water or help in slicing onions. 

On that very day, as young as I was, I just wanted to be the main attraction and to get to do what everyone would applaud me for. So, as mom left, I started off. Cooking our local concoction rice may take different methods as far as I am concerned. 

My Recipe For Concoction Rice

With my little or no experience, I sliced the onions as that is the only thing I could do perfectly. There was no shying away from that. I sliced it like a pro that I was.

The tomato fruits too were sliced in the same round shape as the pepper. Since I was to use fresh pepper, I removed the seed. The flesh would produce another taste in the rice, I thought. 

Dried fish was available. Hence, I had no fear this rice was going to come out tasty. 

Let's Begin The Procedure

A dry pot is on the cooker. And next, I poured vegetable oil. After it had cooked for about two minutes, I poured the onions into oil to fry. To ensure it doesn't get burnt, I had to keep stirring it until it had fried. 

It will begin to turn kind of yellowish or in some cases brownish. Then, I poured the sliced tomato fruits into the already-fried onions. And keep stirring. I did that and it was appearing like I was getting it right. 

The aroma coming from the cooking stew made me feel some kind of joy, making me look like the rave of the moment. 

Adding the dried fish into the stew and pouring more water for it to cook was the next thing I did. 

I guessed that my first cooking was taking good shape. Then, I allowed the fish to secrete some sweet savour into the stew. 

 Before now, I had par-boiled the rice. This was to make the cooking of the rice in addition with the stew not to stay long on fire. 

By the time the stew had fully cooked, I spread the par-boiled rice into the stew and covered it to cook. 

My younger sister was making a joke of me when I started cooking but she thought the food was changing when she perceived the aroma from her room. She had to stay with me with a spoon in her hand to get a full spoon of rice to taste the salt level in the food. 

Image source

When I was done cooking, I dished some food for my sister and I on different plates. I didn't understand how it tasted. My sister Jenny kept silent throughout as we devoured the food. I was expecting her to say something but she didn't. 

All I know is that she ate the whole grain of rice on the plate. That meant a lot to me. But I needed an assurance from someone to ascertain that I did the cooking well enough. 

Later that day, my mother came back home and saw the food I cooked. She danced and danced and said so many amazing things to me that made me understand that I made the rice perfectly. 

From that day, I saw that I could do something I even feared I couldn't do. 

That was how my first experience with cooking went. It was a pleasant start. I have nonetheless had some cooking experience where I either burned the food, added too much salt or where it came out marched like porridge. 

Till now, I am still learning how to prepare some meals as there is still room for more to be learnt. 

Cooking can be fun. If you give your mind to it, you may never want to do it without being in the kitchen. 

And for the guys in the house, cooking is not only meant for the ladies. As a complete man, one should be able to cook a good meal. 

Lead image