Let's write about cooking without a recipe

From the benefits of cooking with a dash of this and a splash of that!

Echo essay by Sudha Balagopal published in Hannaford "Fresh" magazine.

Butter chicken:  https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/butter-chicken/

Sudha Balagopal is the author of the novel "A New Dawn", two short story collections and the novella "Things I can't tell Amma".

Sudha Balagopal: Author

When someone asks me for a recipe, I'm likely to use language like, "a touch of salt" or "a splash of oil".  You won't find measuring tools in my kitchen.  I prefer to cook in dashes, pinches, and sprinkles- creating deliciousness through the inexact.  Sure, there are benefits to cooking with precision, knowing exactly how much to shop for, having a set of clear guidelines to follow. But,growing up in India, I watched my grandmother and mother cook thin, crispy dosas, rich smabar and spicy coconut chutney, all without a recipe in sight.  And beyond this approach being in my blood, it's also a terrific way to make my cooking more flexible, engaging and creative. 

Approximation allows for flexibility, especially when it comes to making the South Asian meals I grew up eating.  When I immigrated to the U.S., in teh 1980s, I couldn't find the ingredients I used to easily pick up back home like lentils for dal, basmati rice for the fried rice dish pulao, or Indian semolina for upma, a thick spiced porridge.  So, I turned to approximation, substituting yellow split peas for lentils, American long-grain rice for basmati, and cream of wheat for semolina.  Even with the substitutions, the warmth of home enveloped me whenever I sat down to eat. 

Cooking this way also engages my five senses and keeps me present. When making chole, chickpeas in an onion tomato gravy, the rich color tells me I have added just the right amount of spices.  When cooking the broth rasam, I'm tasting for that certain tomato-y-tang.  When warming cumin or mustard seeds in hot oil, I listen for the sizzle.  I rely on my senses to tell me when the dish is right or when it may need just a hint more of something else.

By using those senses and that flexibility, a dish is born!  Moreover, it is stamped with my own personal take.  Even something as simple as rice can be personalized by adding extra water for softer rice or a bit less for firmer grains, tossing in a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, seasoning it with a dollop of ghee or a drizzle of vegetable oil, or garnishing the finished dish with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.

Finding the preference point might mean making adjustments until I arrive at my "yum" moment.  But, it's that "yum" moment for which I substitute, trust my senses and stamp what I create with my personal tastes. Indeed, it's that "yum", for which I've given myself the license to be inexact.

My kind of foodie article - not a conventional eater

Let's write about food. I found this "echo" article to be totally compatible with my style of eating. What's important to me in  "Dinner for Breakfast", by writer Christine Liu, is how it speaks to my own eating style. Since my husbnd does not like leftovers, I find it's easier for me to enjoy eating them for breakfast, rather than throwing them, wastefully, away. 

So, I often enjoy eating "Dinner for Breakfast" and appreciate savoring the previous day's recipes on the "morning after". 

This article was published in the Hannaford "fresh", market magazine. Note how Liu's writing style is also "fresh", because she appears to intentionally makes use of contractions and I love it! I've added my own chorus of approval in this transcript.

Dinner for Breakfast by Christine Liu

Cereal or eggs to start the day? Not for writer Christine Liu and I agree with her point of view.

My stomach is equal opportunity at all hours- if it's delicious, I'll eat it. Reheating last night's roasted chicken while at work, to savor at my desk alongside cold-brew coffee is simply standard issue weekday morning fuel.  Other meals you might find me tucking into for breakfast are spicky Buffalo wings, beef bourguignon, creamy lobster fettucine, Sicilan meatball pizza and shrimp kimchi noodle soup.  (Maine Writer- welllll....I might pass on the kimchi...but the noodle soup is a very good left over, sans kimchi.)

Liu says there are two types of people in the world:  those who think that "breakfast" implies "breakfast foods", like eggs, waffles, yogurt, granola, what you , and those who define "breakfast" as simply the first meal of the day.  In the other group are those who define "breakfast" as simply the first meal of the day, full stop!

I'm with Liu.  We are squarely in the latter camp.  Anyting, including homemade chili-cheese nachos, are possible (YES!)

Upon first learning about her breakfast habits, Liu says her friends almost always politiley laughed and remarked, "Isn't that, like heavy in the morning?"  Well, yes and no, she says.

Like anything, it's all about balance and whatever your nutritional lneeds (and hunger levels) dictate. Just like regular breakfast fare, (think hard-boiled eggs versus a frosted cinnamon bun), dinner for breakfast needn't be junky. A kale salad, tuna poke bowl, or platter of freshly shucked oysters all make for perfect top of the morning fodder. (If food critics cringe about oysters for breakfast, think "sardines"...lots of people enjoy eating sardines for breakfast. Where I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, we would shuck oysters from the weekend "oyster roasts" and enjoy them straight up!)

Liu didn't just wake up one morning and suddenly decide dinner-for- breakfast was going to be her M.O. "Essentially, I've been traning my whole life for this", she wrote.

She experienced a blend of cultural influences growing up the daughter of immigrants in a Chinese-American household in suburban Maryland, where congee topped with a salted duck egg and pork floss, or fried rice with ham and peas, were as breakfast cravesworthy as a gooey cheese omelet or a raisin-studded bowl of cinnamon oatmeal. (YES! Fried rice for breakfast is indeed "cravesworthy".  Nice to learn how Liu is a Marylander.)

Moreover, she would also be lying if she didn't confess that she gets a secret thrill bucking the breakfast norm. Some might interpret savory dinner for breakfast as indulgent and decadent- but, what's so wrong about that? From sneaking an eztra-long shower to bingeing Good Girls, it just feels good to treat yourself.  

Who else is going to do that for you?

"When all's said and done, I've realized that a version of self-care that makes sense for me is throwing convention to the curb and eating the meals I go to bed dreaming about- the hot complex, savoryfoods I love more- not long after waking up."

Christine Liu is a Massachusetts based editor of the Harvard Business Publishing and believes hot pot for one is among life's highest indulgences.