Thoughts About Food, Cooking, and Friends
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I don’t cook as much as I used to, and this weekend, I remembered LOUDLY why that is. I am much more excited about cooking when I can do it with others.
On Sunday, I met Sunitha, Nanu, Poornima, and Koichi for brunch at 11am. Afterwards, we stood in the parking lot and created a menu for later. We spent the next hour or so driving around to markets in Bloomington getting ingredients. We spent the entire afternoon cooking and at about 6pm. I realized that since I left Bloomington, it usually goes a different way. I am told that there will be a dinner party or potluck. I do all the planning, shopping, and cooking alone. The only part of the experience that is shared is the eating. To me, that misses the point. Eating is fun, but the collaboration is the point. And I swear food tastes better when you eat it with your collaborators.
From a nerdy neuropsych perspective, I think my executive functioning (e.g. my ability to organize my thoughts and develop a plan) isn’t my best skill. It’s nice having Sunitha ask organizing questions like “How many recipes require onions?” While I am able to create a menu myself, it’s an effort for me. I’ve always had a strong experience of social facilitation in pretty much every area. When another person is there and there is collaboration, I’m highly productive. When working alone, I’m far less so. Cooking with Sunitha and Nanu and Poornima felt so natural. We all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We all enjoy ourselves. Noone panics. We all have enough skills and interest that we work it out, no matter what. In the end, we had a wonderful experience and a delicious meal.
Sunitha called this our “Set List”
I have enough foodie friends in the Triangle that I’m thinking about trying something similar. Even though none of my foodie friends really know each other, I’m confident that if we all sat in a room with a stack of cookbooks, we would – over the course of a few hours – have a lot of fun and end up with a culinarily/photographically-worthy set of dishes that we will remember for a long time. My birthday is coming up. I may have to have one regular party and one “Let’s Cook” event. Kathryn? Ajith? Josh? Don? Katy? Nik? Ears ringing yet? Maybe Cathy? Jen? Perhaps we could have others come for the end part, too. I’m plotting. It always seems to work out. I’ve found that the natural head chef/sous chef roles always become clear very quickly. When it was Indian, the leader was either Sunitha or Nanu. But when we cooked more Mediterranean (or even Southern) dishes, I was in charge. Perhaps this sounds like pandemonium in the making, but I have to try.
Update: Well color me lame. How on EARTH could I forget Baron?!! Major oversight!!
I’m headed out to a DVD night tonight with friends, and I decided to make something I’ve always wanted to try, pavlova (you excited, 
