Across Kitchen Lines

Why I am online now ?

After distancing myself from social media for the past year and a half, I (re)started using Instagram a month ago when we had to start social distancing because of COVID-19, mother of irony. 

I was hearing about what my friends were cooking in this downtime and above all amazing food pictures they were sharing on IG. I would borrow my wife’s phone every night and glance over her IG feed to check out some of my friend’s food pictures. I resisted the urge but two weeks into the lockdown, I caved in and installed the app and logged in to my account after year and a half of dormancy. 

Beautiful and interesting food has always been a popular category on IG but this time it is different. Our time has come, foodies have completely taken over IG in the last couple of months. So much creativity pouring in! it is just amazing. Obviously this can be attributed to the fact that people are spending a lot of time indoors, and the kitchen has become their new playground while they cannot go out and experience their favorite restaurants. I feel there is one more thing that at least I have noticed, because of additional time, people are not just showcasing their stuff but are really taking interest in what other people are posting. Not in the “Oh my god! her dress is prettier than mine” or “Really?! he is vacationing again in Hawaii this year?!” kind of way but really getting inspired from each other and connecting with people to learn about their recipes too. This excitement for food has been contagious and I am very happy to see stronger communities getting created.

My Cooking: 

I love to try different cuisines myself and most times, I like recreating dishes that are new to me. Often I have to cook these dishes multiple times to get to a point where they taste close to what I had tasted myself wherever I tried it for the first time. I have obsessively cooked Neapolitan Pizza, Handmade pasta, Shakshuka, Ramen and Pad Thai to name a few dishes. As a part of my research, I read about these dishes, tried various recipes, watched hours worth of videos on Youtube, and I thoroughly enjoy this whole process. But sometimes I just wish, I knew someone from the region whom I could just reach out to and seek advice and share my notes with. Over the last few weeks, I did come across a few people(and continue to meet new people every day) whom I would like to make part of my culinary exploration. 

Across Kitchen Lines :

Over next coming weeks, I plan to cook some dishes, from all over the globe, some popular, some unheard of, some that I have eaten before, some whose taste I am unfamiliar with. I won’t be cooking these dishes alone. I plan to work with my, friends (i.e. You) who I will connect with online (mainly Instagram), and are so gracious to spend some time with me. They will help me research these dishes, share their first memories of these dishes and how are they prepared in their corner of the world. Something they enjoy cooking on a day to day basis. Stuff that is part of their tradition and they grew up eating.

We both will cook the same dish in the same week and I will share pictures of both of our food along with the recipes and my experience cooking that particular dish.

Visiting a place physically and learning from the locals would be the most ideal. However, in this new normal, especially when this planet has come to a standstill, working with these kind “strangers” in this global community and share our experiences virtually is a very close second.

If you are passionate about cooking, let us talk. If you have a dish from your corner of the world and would like to cook with me, I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or reach out on Instagram.