THE HANDS THAT COOK

and spread love one meal at a time

Millions of years ago, when humans first used fire to transform raw food into a cooked meal, a new science and a new art form were born.

Over the millenia, fertile minds and nimble hands all over the planet honed this culinary art through various forms, ranging from roasting, braising, boiling to steaming, baking, frying, stewing and thus evolved an ancient science that experimented with proportions, understood properties of ingredients, and balanced flavours to create astonishing results. As settlements and kingdoms grew, cooking became a skill, a craft and a vocation. Flavours and textures were combined, methods of cooking developed, spices and garnishes added, and viola - eating became a multisensory feast.

The act of cooking is therefore a revolution in the history of humankind.

Stone reliefs from Ancient Egypt depicting baked bread

Today, we live in a world surrounded by hundreds of cuisines offering an endless variety of dishes to tickle our palette. Yet, we often fail to notice that this food paradise is enabled by the labour of love of innumerable individuals who toil in hot kitchens for long hours to douse the fire in our bellies and arouse the taste buds in our mouth. At the heart of this unique craft that helps transform simple, even bland raw foods into a sumptuous meal, is the act of love.

Cooking, truly, is a love language.

So much love goes into preparing a meal. My dear friend Pooja captures this moment in her Instagram blog @loiterist

However, in the hustle culture of our times, the act of eating our daily meals has become a routine, mechanical process to many and hardly a thought is spared to the effort that goes into making it. Today, the food we crave for is available to us at the touch of a smart-screen through restaurants, cloud kitchens and home delivery services. Yet, we are often engaged in conversations, work meetings, calls and doom-scrolling on our screens as we consume our food. Eating has been a part of the sacred rituals of many faiths and communal eating a practice in many cultures, but we are guilty of ‘grabbing our meals’ and eating ‘on the go’ never really noticing the effort that goes into making it.

Even as you read this, in different parts of the world numerous hands are moving tirelessly to ensure that someone, somewhere has a meal on their plates.

A friend Jigar Patel captures images of his homecooked meals in his Instagram blog @urbanlens_

In the traditional Indian rasoi or bawarchikhana as the kitchen is known in hindi and urdu respectively, cooking is a ritual. Cleanliness and sanctity are of utmost importance. The kitchen is largely the domain of women (though there are always exceptions). From dawn to dusk and beyond, these individuals spend time planning, preparing and cooking meals for their loved ones, catering to the needs and food choices of all and ensuring the nourishment and contentment of the family. Ancestral recipes are passed on from generation to generation and seasonal ingredients used with flourish. Medicinal foods are carefully included to aid healing and recuperation from ailments. Festivals are celebrated with a variety of sweet and savoury recipes prepared to mark the occasion and the food and love is shared with neighbours and friends beyond the confines of one's home.

Women cooking a wedding feast in the village of Manori in Mumbai

Cooking is a transfer of energy and emotions, a truly meditative process of creation. A home-cooked meal is filled with the energy and vibration of love and care. The hands that cook, quietly and consistently, in tiny kitchens and at odd hours to nourish their families, hold the key to love and family bonding that is passed through generations through the food they serve.

So, the next time we are unwell and feel the strength rushing back to our body after a few sips of lovingly made warm broth, let’s spare a thought for the hands that prepared it. Everytime we have a home cooked meal, let's acknowledge the labour of those who work consistently to bring it to our tables. Let's be grateful for the blessings that are infused in every morsel we consume.

The joyous energy of the hands that cook is infused into our meals

If food is a love language, then the hands that prepare it are the ones that spread this love to the world one meal at a time.

I dedicate this post to

Raju Tai

,

Sally Burke

and

Sanobar Sabah

and the various cooking stories they have shared on Substack.

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