On Sunday I met Sarah and Julia for some group cooking of Mexican food. I had slept poorly the night before, was a little hung over and I was wrestling with self-consciousness after riding an emotional roller coaster of highs and lows throughout the week. In hindsight, I don’t even know how I’d dragged myself out of bed. I was in tears within 10 minutes of seeing them.
After tales of the dramatic week were shared, events dissected and reassurances issued I was still in a bit of a sulky ‘poor me’ mood. And then the cooking began…
There is a power to group cooking with friends, I believe. Logistically it can be frustrating – personal space is compromised, equipment needs to be rationed and gas burner ‘real estate’ becomes a precious commodity. But it is oh so worth it!
Today I had two people there to reassure me that my caramel wouldn’t burn this time, to luxuriate in at the aroma of a vanilla bean simmering in milk and celebrate in the success of a dessert cooked well. And IF it had all gone horribly wrong I have no doubt that I would have had two people cursing the recipe in chorus with me!
I felt so much better.
There’s a reason group cooking has been going on since the dawn of human kind. It’s such a rich social experience. Today I cried, I laughed, I cooked, I shared and I learned. And, what I am most grateful for, I was comforted by two amazing friends and the food that we shared.
Image from Broken Nose Vanilla whose beautiful vanilla beans were used on the day!
A couple of my friends and I felt the same way so we started eatwithme.net so that we could meet new people to cook and eat with. A social revolution around the dinner table.