Food is something we as humans need to survive. For thousands of years we have made ways of making food enjoyable such as cooking with herbs and spices, chicken, pork, carrots and broccoli. But there is one thing that can make any food taste good, may it be Indian or Chinese, the magic ingredient that can make any meal special, a secret ingredient that anybody can use is Love. In my experience love, especially a mother’s love, is an ingredient that is essential in all cooking. When someone is cooking a meal with you in mind, and they put their love and care for you into their food, it can make that meal taste so much more special.
If you buy a roti in a shop vs. having a roti that your mother or anyone else made – anyone who is thinking about you eating and enjoying their food. It is very likely that you will enjoy the latter more because you were in mind. They made the roti for you to enjoy and they put their love for you into the roti, making it taste better to you vs. the cooks in the roti shop who are just trying to mass produce a product, so they can make money. They are not thinking about who is going to eat their food, they just want people to buy the roti so they can be paid. Not to say that their food is not good, it just tastes better when love for one person or a group of people is put into the food.
I like my grandmother’s pelau, when I say like, I mean love. But my friend does not share my opinion on the matter, she said ”It has a weird taste, I don’t like it at all”. She also went on to say that her grandmother’s pelau was far superior to my grandmother’s pelau. Later on I tried her grandmother’s pelau. I thought it was nice, but I did not understand how she thought this was better than my grandmother’s pelau. Thinking about it more, I realized that my grandmother was thinking about me and putting her care for me into the food, when she was making her pelau. On the other hand my friend’s grandmother was thinking about my friend putting her love for her into her food. Although love is a wonderful ingredient, it all depends on who the person who is cooking the meal is thinking about, and what they are thinking about said person.
All in all, love is an essential human emotion, and when we put it into food, it can bring the food to a whole other level. If there is one thing that every meal should have, that thing is love.
By Eva
