Cooking Vacations - Number 10

Ho-hum. It’s Wednesday, it’s mid-afternoon, just about that time of day when you look over your punch list, see what’s been done and evaluate how to plan the rest of the day’s hours. Then you realize…hey, I’m going home around 6PM and what’s going to happen there? Dinner. Oh no...dinner. Never mind that you've seen that episode of Top Chef ten times already, dinner brings the question that makes the real boredom set in: what the hell am I going to eat tonight?

Chicken breast with veggies? Pasta (again)? A slice of old pizza? A not-quite rightly-sauced stirfry? The magic 8-ball says: “Outlook does not look good.” I worked as a cook for almost two years, and even I am stumped four days out of seven. I am a self-proclaimed master of changing a can of tuna into a gourmet delight, but sometimes you need to branch out. Thank goodness I’m single and I get to order take-out without guilt or worry…but c’mon. Let’s be responsible here, our culinary creativity is ours alone, and only we can bust out of the kitchen doldrums. Let’s try something new and delicious. (Am I sounding like a Rice-a-Roni ad yet?)

Enter a cooking vacation. Seeing as how I haven’t taken a proper vacation in a few years (like, with airline tickets, hotel rooms, and nice dinners included,) I am of the mind to get out in the world, see new places, and soak in some new flavors with all of that foreign atmosphere. Life is all about learning, so why not learn to advance one’s culinary skills while relaxing? (Let’s face it, these kinds of vacations cost a pretty penny, so you can imagine a lot of the time must be spent taking in dramatic vistas and imbibing local libations – isn’t that learning?) Even if it’s a one-day class mixed into the overall itinerary, I’m certain it would be the highpoint of the trip. First place I’d go? The Amalfi Coast or Rome, followed by Mexico (I’m dying to learn the secrets of a good mole…) and then Morocco. Of course, old friendly France would be nice too, but I already know how to make steak frites and escargot. After all, this is California, and what is California cuisine but a base good French bistro food combined with organic veggies and a dash of Asian-fusion? Let’s get into the chiles, the tagines, the weird local vegetables, and shoppers bartering in strange languages at high volumes. Let’s educate our palettes and discover how other people eat when they come home from work.

Of course, the beauty of a cooking vacation is to come home and make a bountiful meal for all of your friends so you can show off all of your new epicurean advances. Gather ye friends and feast on my Sopa de Ajo con Flor de Calabaza! Even in my tiny apartment, I am certain it would be a thing to behold.

Comments

[Soirée enterrement de vie de jeune fille]

J'adorerai partir en vacances pour cuisiner, mes destination serait, l'Italie, le Japon et l'Inde.
Je ne me lasse pas de cuisiner en France non lus.
Lilou

[Soirée enterrement vie de jeune fille]

J'adorerai partir en vacances pour cuisiner, mes destination serait, l'Italie, le Japon et l'Inde.
Je ne me lasse pas de cuisiner en France non plus.
Lilou