Oh yes it is.. And I am a living proof.
When I was growing up, my mother, a career woman, had always a cook who would come twice a week to prepare all our meals. I was never allowed into the kitchen.
When my mom's responsibilities grew, and she had to travel a lot more for her work, my grandma started to come more often to stay with us. Those were wonderful periods of my childhood.. grandma spoiled us with her delicious cooking and I was finally allowed in the kitchen.
Of course I was only there to play with my food, but, when the time came, I discovered that those were not lost times. When I found myself in a situation where I had to face the stove and feed myself and my family, it all came back to me, all those memories from my childhood games in the kitchen, they all came back and I discovered that I can cook, yes I can cook just like my grandma!
Later on, at the age of 12 or so, I was allowed to spend more time at my Italian friends' home. Their mom, I called her "mammina", was always in the kitchen, and that's where we always gathered to play, to study or to prepare for a big dinner party or some kind of festivity. These days also did not go to waste.
Now that my mother is older and living with me, she's still amazed at the Italian dishes that I cook, and mainly surprised that playing in the kitchen around a good cook, "your Italian mammina" as she called her (they were very good friends),can leave a lasting impression on a child to the point that he can learn to cook.
I never had a real need to cook until I went to study in Paris. I lived in a small studio with the tiniest kitchen you can imagine. It had only a sink, two electric plates, a small under counter fridge and a stamp-size counter to work on. Of course in the beginning my exploits in the kitchen were limited to boiling eggs, and later to an omelette or a soup. But slowly, during the two years I spent in Paris, and with the cold weather that would go on for days, and mainly because of my limited budget as a student, I managed to feed myself at home and sometimes also invite some friends to sample my first products. It was not bad at all, and, more important, it was very good to my wallet.
So if you think that simply because you never cooked before you'll never be able to cook, think again. You can cook, everyone can.
But the most important thing here is what I mean by "If you can eat"..it's very simple, if you can eat, if you savour your food, you will definitely be able to discern the ingredients of the meal you are eating, and with a little help, you'll be able to understand how it was cooked, and ultimately be able to replicate it yourself. Of course this will not happen overnight, it will take some time, but you'll be surprised to discover that when you like a certain dish at a restaurant, you'll be able to cook it even without a recipe.
Again, I am talking from experience. When I first got married, my husband thought that being a career woman myself, we would have to live on take out or eating out. He was happily surprised that when we invited our first guests to our house, I offered to cook dinner. He asked what was I going to prepare, so I gave him the menu I had in mind, and he was shocked to hear me say "lasagna" among the dishes I intended to prepare. "Have you ever cooked lasagna before?" he asked, worried that his friends would starve in their first visit to our house. "No, but don't worry, I got it" I replied.
The next day, he came to see me in the kitchen and found me calmly stirring something in a pot, handling cheeses and sauces, all the things an experienced cook would be doing in his kitchen. He shyly asked:" Is everything OK? are you sure you don't want me to order something in?.. a pizza maybe?" "No, no I'm fine", I said. And I really was. The dinner was a success, everybody loved my lasagna to the point there were no leftovers!
Three or four dinners later, when we went to restaurants, and my husband liked something he ate, he would simply ask "Can we do this at home?", 'we' of course being me!!
So don't be afraid, I did it and so can you.
By this blog I intend to help all of you out there who are still standing on the sidelines afraid to go into their kitchens, we'll do it together and we will succeed.
