Mangia Mangia

I have recently taken to teaching myself to cook. I know it seems ridiculous that a 35 year old man only has rudimentary at best cooking skills, but I offer this in my defense. I am Italian and thereby having a Italian mom and sister who are both incredible cooks, Couple that with two of my close friends being chefs, Why would I need to learn?

I suppose it all started with Sundays. On Sundays my sister, her husband and my best friend come over and we spend the day together. Sometimes this means lying around all day, sometimes it means shopping, in nice weather it means lying by the pool all day. Those are my favorite days. Either way it always ends up with us cooking. We almost always make a meal together. As I watch them and assist them in their cooking endeavors, I am learning quite a bit.

I also have my man around, which helps as I have found that most bachelors such as myself do not cook. Why go through the hassle of messing up the kitchen to make a single meal you’re going to eat alone and most likely on the couch anyway? Although I admit leftovers do make a very convenient lunch/dinner the next day.

So I am learning how to cook. Nothing super difficult nothing too crazy, just simple “square meals” that are both healthy and delicious. Well maybe not so healthy, but delicious.

I find I like not only the action of cooking , the chopping ,stirring, tossing of it all, but also the meaning that lies behind it. I find it very masculine and sexy. Perhaps it is some archaic image of the hunter gatherer idea I have in my head about providing for those you care about. Perhaps its my Italian upbringing that influenced my ideas on sharing a meal as a way of a family, both birth and chosen coming together to fill their belly as well as their souls.

Call it what you want but in a world which often turns to fast for my liking sharing a home cooked meal and a cup of tea with my loved ones is about as close to perfection as I can imagine.