Interlude: Improvising in the Kitchen
I'm going to let you guys in on a little secret. Here it is: I don't always know what I'm doing in the kitchen. In fact, I only know what I'm doing about half the time. But here's the thing – you don't need to know exactly what you're doing to cook. Maybe I've seen Ratatouille too many times ("Anyone can cook!"), but I do really believe this. The most fun and interesting kind of cooking is playing around with different ideas and seeing what works and what doesn't.
To most people, improvising in the kitchen seems to be intimidating. It still is to me too, to some extent. Going without an ingredient list and measurements and instructions...who does that anymore, when so much is available to us? I'll tell you who, friends. The creators! The dreamers! The best chefs! And some of the worst ones too, probably. I'll self-identify in that last category for now. But I think it's important to a culinary "education" to try making things without a recipe now and again, and to be forced to really pay attention to what you're doing. How will the flavors mix and contrast? What is the chemistry behind the ingredients? How much of this one ingredient do I actually need for it to contribute to the overall taste, but not overwhelm it?
I've had a few friends mention to me that they think it's cool that I'm doing this blog, and they ask if I create all these recipes myself. The answer is no, I do not create all these recipes myself. I'm not good enough yet! Some of them are from family members, some of them are sourced from the internet, some are inspired by things I've consumed in restaurants. Most of the recipes I share here are just my own spin on a pre-existing recipe. However, I do try to make sure I either credit the source or play around with the original recipe to the point where I've added enough of myself to feel comfortable sharing it on my own blog. It makes it easier to improvise if you have a good foundation to start with!
This week, I decided to work completely from scratch and go recipe-less. Since I still consider myself a rookie and don't have a bottomless checking account, I decided to take a stab at homemade hummus. Chickpeas are cheap, and I figured I'd give it a try with some things I already had at home! While traditional hummus is made primarily with chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon, and olive oil, I opted to try some different things I had around the house. It wasn't the best hummus I ever had, but it was a fun experiment, and now – this is the important part – I know what I want to do differently next time!
In case you're curious: I know not to add quite as much peanut butter to substitute for the nuttiness of tahini. I know that I need to add more heat – maybe a little cayenne next time. I know that I should just buy the darn lemon next time. I know that I almost always under-salt on the first go. But I also know that for a first try, it wasn't bad!
All this rambling is really just to say this: anyone can cook*. If you enjoy cooking but haven't tried improvising yet, give it a try. Try a really simple dish to get yourself started (like hummus!), or try recreating a recipe you've made before, but this time don't use the recipe. The more you play around, the better your instincts will be, not because you know how to follow instructions, but because you really know how to cook. That's my goal!
Happy Cooking,
Natalie
*Two notes: One – yes, I really love Ratatouille. Two – I want to encourage everyone to play around and mess things up in the kitchen, but I do want to clarify too that it's much easier to do this with cooking than it is with baking. Baking is very much a science and it will take a lot of tries to get things right without measuring.