The whiff of mother’s cooking

 Simple home-made fare holds a special place in our heart.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

The recipe was a very old, tried and tested one. It was part of a family tradition and called for several ingredients,  processes and elaborate preparation. I had second thoughts about trying it but with clear-cut instructions written in mother’s own hand, I thought I could not go wrong. 

I followed the steps to a T. The dish looked  appetising. People oohed and aahed over it, saying it tasted just like mother’s. 

I too had a helping. The ingredients were the same, the method the same, but still it lacked something. I double-checked the old notebook filled with recipes written in mother’s own hand. Had I missed out on something? I puzzled over it but the puzzle remained a puzzle, unsolved.

Overcome with diffidence,  I decided to try a simpler recipe, again written in mother’s own hand. The process was easy and I hummed to myself as I thought I had cracked the code. The dish appeared inviting. Those who tasted it testified to its quality but to me there was something missing. Then the truth dawned. 

It was something intangible, what locals call “the experience or skill of mother’s hands”  or that special mother’s touch which imbues the dish with love, warmth, tenderness  and a general “feel good” vibe which translates to the fragrance that is unique to mother’s hands. 

It was as if the various flavours contained in the dish or any dish for that matter was embedded in her hands which in turn endowed the dish with that unique, wholesome flavour which we equate with the warmth and compassion that personifies mother. 

Wherever we are, whatever age we may be, despite the crowds that throng eateries, restaurants and hotels, mother’s cooking  brings with it nostalgic thoughts that linger forever.  Simple home-made fare from mother’s hands does hold a special place in our heart as those “tucked away” memories will tell us. Children who live away from home or based overseas will testify to this narrative.

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