Peruhello: a blog: Cooking!

Hey y'all.

Thank you to those of you who are still sticking it out and following this miserable excuse for a blog. Seeing as this is my first post of 2011, Feliz Ano Nuevo! I hope you did something awesome to ring in the new year.

So on to the topic of the day. Back when I lived in the other America, cooking was I-guess-kind-of-not-really part of my life. I chopped vegetables occasionally, or baked cookies with friends, but I was really more into the eating side of things. Well, I'm still certainly into the eating side of things, but since moving to Urubamba, I've come to love cooking for many reasons.

My friends and I first began cooking in Urubamba because of the weekly ProWorld tradition of volunteer dinners at the office. It was shortly thereafter that the five of us discovered our mutual love for good food. As we worked together, week after week, to brainstorm, plan, shop, and prepare all kinds of meals, we became closer and closer as a group. Our culinary adventures soon branched out beyond volunteer dinners, and we soon found ourselves at the office several times a week, cooking whatever tasty treat we'd been craving. What I love about cooking, especially in our situation (living in Urubamba and cooking in the ProWorld kitchen) is that improvisation is in order, or hay que improvisar. In other words, maybe we don't have a mixing bowl, but a plastic jug works just fine. Or maybe cottage cheese isn't available in the market, but queso andino (Andean cheese) gets the job done. We understand the beauty of creative collaboration, and our flexibility has allowed us to make some fabulous dishes, from quiche to blueberry crumble cake to Indian samosas to latkes. I think we would all agree that our shared culinary interest has been a catalyst for the extremely positive group dynamic among the five of us Princeton kids.

Speaking of cooking as a catalyst for positive relationships, I have to say that it's also been a wonderful asset to the cultural integration process. I'm often out of the house right before meals, which is when my host mom or dad is usually cooking, but this week, I was fortunate to have some special time with my host family on multiple occasions. On Tuesday, we finally decided to open the Indian curry packets my real parents sent me from the U.S. My host family hadn't ever tried Indian food, and we'd been meaning to prepare an Indian meal for a long time. For most of my experience thus far, I've been on the questioning-and-learning end of things, as I've tried new customs and traditions. But it was really cool to see how interested my host family was as I shared an important part of my own culture. They wanted to know all the details, from the names of the spices to the proper manner of arranging the food on the plate! And even though eating the foods I haven't eaten in months brought me a little nostalgia, I felt right at home.

On Thursday, it was my host grandfather's birthday, so my family and I went to Cusco to celebrate. My host mom and I prepared most of the food, and she taught me many interesting things about Peruvian-style cooking. We made rocoto relleno souffle, (stuffed peppers baked with cheese and a milky sauce on top) roast chicken, pesto pasta, baked camote (sweet potato), baked potato, apple salad, rice pudding, and tequenos (cheese wrapped in wan-tons). It was a lovely spread, but what was most lovely was the chance to chat and learn new things with my host mom.

Obviously, I've learned to love cooking for many reasons, but I think the absolute best thing about cooking is that it never gets old. Of course, there are those recipes that no one gets tired of, no matter how many times you make them. But if that's not the case, there are always ways to make it interesting and different, to learn what works and what doesn't. And best of all, when you're cooking with people whose company you enjoy, it's simply fun.

Here are some photos of our greatest éxitos in the kitchen.