In the summer of 2022, I had just completed my university entrance exams in Hong Kong. As a subtle declaration to the world that I was “done” with school, I decided to learn a skill that was completely unrelated to academia. I turned to my mom in the kitchen and asked, “Can you teach me to cook?”
It is quite comforting to trace the trajectory of one’s own hobbies and realise how, on a random day, a small decision you made to try something new led to you discovering a different way to spend your time. Now I cannot imagine life without this hobby that I started with a whiff of teenage rebellion.
Over the next four months, my mom witnessed me scald my finger on the frying pan, add too little salt to my veggies, and grunt frustratedly at a potato I was trying to peel — but mothers do not give up on their daughters. Slowly but surely, I was able to handle a few recipes on my own. That humble set of skills proved useful when I had to live away from family and cook for myself in my second year of university.
So I guess I have UBC Okanagan Housing to thank for this wonderful hobby. Waitlisted in the five-hundreds for on-campus housing, two friends and I rented an apartment for the school year. We got groceries and put our rusty chefing to the test.
I started with simple meals: tuna salad pasta, turkey sandwiches, and a Hong Kong-style stewed beef recipe I had written down during that liberating summer of 2022. For a quick gauge of my skill level at the time, just know that I had to text my mom for instructions on how to chop an onion. She sent me a Gordon Ramsay Youtube tutorial, and I made do with it.
As the year went by, I grew more and more comfortable in the kitchen. Now, not only do I chop my onions swiftly, I also find joy in searching for new recipes and even creating my own — recently, I discovered that eggplants, minced beef, and spring onions go surprisingly well with fried rice. Cooking is not just about refining one’s chopping skills and learning ingredient combinations though. There is so much more that I love about this activity.
First, it gives my brain a break. On a Saturday morning after a busy week of classes, my mind quiets as I watch bubbles emerge from sizzling pancake batter on the pan. Focused on preparing something as simple as breakfast, I enter into a state of flow where my usually-loud brain shuts off for half an hour or more.
This is healthy for the mind. Cooking provides intervals in the day to take mental breaks. Faced with a seemingly endless to-do list, I find it hard to allow myself breaks from school. Yet knowing that I need food to survive, I rarely feel guilty putting my assignment on pause to make a meal. Hence, this hobby ensures that I rest my mind and adjust my pace.
Cooking also nourishes relationships. Last November, my roommate and I hosted a housewarming party where we baked a delicious eggplant-on-baguette appetiser — can you tell I like eggplants? — for our friends. Whenever I am back home in the summer, I try to cook dinner at least once a week for my parents and younger brother. I believe that making a meal for someone is an act of love. It requires time and energy, which are precious things we would only be willing to sacrifice for the people we care about. The best part is seeing the smiles on my friends and family’s faces when they have cleared their plates.
There are many other benefits to cooking, the obvious ones being that buying groceries is generally cheaper than eating at a restaurant, and that cooking allows more flexibility with meal portions and ingredients.
The one downside is that, as previously mentioned, cooking can be time-consuming. As a university student taking five courses, working, and being part of clubs on campus, cooking on weekdays is oftentimes rushed and requires strategic meal-prepping. I wish I had more time to enjoy this hobby. Nonetheless, it continues to heal my mind and bring me closer to the people I love.
Though 17-year-old me was wrong in thinking she was done with school, she was right in looking for things to do outside of academia, because despite everyday tasks and responsibilities, how we choose to spend our spare time — the hobbies and habits we build — are really what come to nourish our lives.
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