Criticism

Have you ever been criticized for something? How were you able to handle it? How did you felt when someone was criticizing you? Didn't you feel so low or you just take every words being thrown at you?

I have received a lot of criticisms in the past. Some of it I take it to heart and other times even if I act like I don't care but the truth is it has been imprinted on my mind. I used all of those criticisms to better myself. Most of you know that I have a Youtube channel. I started January 2020 by featuring some restaurants that we have been to from January to February. I was just starting and then COVID happened so I had to shift into cooking after months of thorough thinking.

With my first few videos, I did got a lot of comments and suggestions from a lot of people but mostly from my family and friends. I even wrote all of it so that I will be able to improve what is needed to improve. Then when I shifted to cooking, I still did had a lot of suggestions from my friends and I am so grateful that they motivate me to do better. There was a time when I would receive an unexpected message from my friends and they would comment about my video. I was so happy that they took time to watch my videos despite their busy life.

Then I got my first dislike or thumbs down on my carbonara video. I may have not use some high end ingredients on my recipe because not all of my viewers can afford a guanciale (an Italian cured meat product) or a pancetta. They wouldn't even know where to buy it so I opted for bacon which can easily be bought in supermarkets. I used store bought processed grated parmesan cheese because hard cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino are not always available in the groceries.

I know I even posted it on Tsū, a social media platform that pays, and one person said that it was not the right way to make a traditional carbonara. In case you still do not know, traditional carbonara is made of eggs and if it has cream then it is already an alfredo sauce. Here in the Philippines, many people think that if it is white sauce then it is carbonara. As long as it does not have eggs, then it is not carbonara. You can also make white sauce by butter, flour and milk and this is called bechamel sauce but you still can't say it is carbonara even if you add bacon and parmesan cheese on it. I hope we are all clear with carbonara and alfredo sauce.

I told my former colleague who started his Youtube channel a year before me about my first dislike. He told me that it was normal and that I should not be affected because I still got my watch hours because the person who disliked it watched my video. He said that he was also affected by his bashers at first but then he learned the art of deadma (ignoring) and even thanked each and everyone of them by replying to their comments.

And then after a few months, I then again had another dislike and even received a lot of comments. It was with my video of aglio oglio pasta or spaghetti with garlic and oil. The last comment that I have received was from a few weeks ago and he said that it was the worst aglio y oglio that he has ever seen.

Ok, first and foremost, I have only copied it from one known chef here in the Philippines. I am not putting the blame onto the other person where I copied my recipe especially because every cook or chef has their own different stlye of cooking. Believe it or not even if we both have the same amount of ingredients and we both cook the same dish on the same time, it would not be identical. It would taste and look different. Trust me on that one.

It was my first time to cook an aglio oglio pasta. I do not even order it from restaurants because I feel like it is a rip off. A pasta with just oil and garlic? I'd rather pay for a truffle pasta even if it is expensive. I do not do trial cooking because I feel like it is a waste of money. So if I decide to cook on something, I will buy thr ingredients and then take a video right away. My mom on the other hand likes it to do a trial first before we can take a video but majority of my cooking videos were always first try except for some that I have already cooked in years like pancit puti (white noodle), ensaladang talong (eggplant salad) and embutido (Filipino style meatloaf). Those 3 are our own recipe although the lasagna was slightly copied from another chef here in the Philippines although I tweaked some of the ingredients and procedures. Who would have thought that my version would also be delicious.

The last time that I have checked, my aglio oglio pasta also had a lot of dislikes. When I watched the video again this afternoon, it was really horrible. LOL. The angle and even how I cooked it. It is really a struggle to me to cook and at the same time take a video of only the cooking procedures. In some of my videos where my mom would cook some of the dishes, it was really easy for me because all I have to do was to point and shoot. It is just that my mom was too conscious whenever I take videos even if she is not seen on the camera. She feels like she's going to make a mistake that can affect the taste of the food.

I can say that I can handle criticisms really well but I admit that I also get affected. We are just humans and it is normal to feel that way. That is why the next time that I will upload videos on Youtube, I want to be equipped with the right tools although I still need to save a lot of money for that. I would study each recipes that I will be making and watch other videos about a particular dish.

There are times when I feel demotivated whenever someone criticize me or criticize what I do but I take it as a challenge to do better next time. I still haven't practiced the art of deadma but I know someday I will be able to ignore them. Now I wonder how other people handle criticisms. I know it isn't easy for some and there are those who can carry it well perfectly but I just hope that we shouldn't give up with whatever criticisms being thrown at us. We should also be grateful because we wouldn't improve if not for those criticisms. And if you would criticize other people, I hope that you would say it in a way that it wouldn't be too offensive to the person.

I'll be ending my article with my most criticized video. Let me know your remarks about it. As for the taste, it was ok but like I have said, I haven't tasted it before so I really don't know how it is suppose to taste like. Enjoy my video.