Member-only story
Cooking, Poetry
Fragrant Aromas
How my passion for cooking started.
A pinch of this and a pinch of that,
A bouquet of herbs, and butter too,
— sizzling sounds, a cooking melody.
Fragrant aromas wafting in the air
Cooking, a joyous affair, and I care,
— adding flavor and spice to my day.
I grew up on a small farm in South Africa and am used to the culinary flavors and delights of South African cooking.
I always hung out in the kitchen when my mom was cooking. I observed her and learned some tricks in the process. Sometimes she involved me in the preparation of dishes.
When I was about 13 years old, I casually strolled into the kitchen after my morning farm chores and asked if mom could bake a cake for me. She looked at me surprised as it was a very busy day on the farm with tons of work to be done.
“If you want a cake, you will have to bake it yourself, Jay” was her reply.
A cake I wanted, thus I used her recipe book to bake a Chocolate Cake a la Jay. I decided to add extra ingredients to the cake. “I am the baking master of the kitchen and it’s my cake, so why not?” my teenage bravado reasoned.
