So if you are in my inner circle of friends, you probably are aware of the alaipayuthey (ocean waves that crash on the shores and return) style crushes that come into my life. Right now, the waning crush is on a celeb-chef. I have tried to read and watch everything from and about the gentleman, which is not a big task: all the information is so readily and abundantly available. I know so much about him by now that I can identify so many snippets from the Hallmark movie Cooking with Love based on his antics, which none of the YouTube comments address! But as always, I digress.

In one of his early TV shows, he talks about how people don’t cook anymore. I grew up in a household where all the meals we ate were home cooked. The concept of pocket money or allowance was restricted to travel fare, so you needed to prioritize your expenses. One helping of samosa meant you needed to walk back home from school. In short, if you were tired, you can’t buy candy. There was a lot of variety in our food too, but we had our favorites and we were very vocal about what we liked. But we had two choices: eat what is made, or starve. So through the cribbing and the complaining, we managed to sleep with a full tummy.

Mum has always been a great cook and never a reluctant one, despite being a single parent for most of our lives. We discovered this truth about her a few decades later, when we actually had something to compare her delicacies with. I learnt to cook out of curiosity at quite a young age (thiugh teens in the days of junior masterchefs seems a lifetime too late), but ma would still be in charge of the seasoning. When I moved out and had to adjust my cooking to a palate of someone from outside the family, it was a disaster. Too many cooks may manage to salvage the broth, but only if they try. Cooks that refuse to enter the kitchen, I guess, end up being critics. For years, it was a chore I endured, and almost gave up on my culinary game.

Although the chances of me making an elaborate feast on a work day continue to be slim, I have started enjoying cooking for myself again. The measuring cups still don’t work for me, but I enjoy whipping up a delicious meal for myself now. Coming back to what is happening in my pictures. So here, we have Ben aka The Thing, who is making the best of cooking based on Deadpool’s recipe dictating skills. This is sure to piss off the cleaning guys, who has obviously turned into Hulk. As the Joker tries to steal the bottle of Nutella (Vodka or Whiskey, who knows?) Black Panther is out to save the day. In the middle of all this, Venom wants to be the official taster. Too many cooks? I think not!