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Sea Legs

My friend P went from being a lazy and occasional cook with a very limited repertoire to a high-caliber home-chef in a period of about three years. At first it would be the barely passing effort to try a standard desi recipe that folks would cheer him on for. Then it took a more serious turn. He started to bake and really found his stride. It was as if he was meant to be a baker and just did not know that was his calling. 

Every iteration was more perfect and P started to diversify - if the dish went into an oven for any length of time, then P would conquer it. That is when we started to see the quiches, pies, pastries and cakes coming through. Interestingly enough, the desi dishes showed up regularly too and now they looked professionally produced. 

Watching P over the years, I have had to wonder if all of us who cook regularly have some kind of a core skill that we should try to discover and really work on perfecting. For P that was clearly baking and he seemed to have stumbled upon it by accident. But once he got a handle on baking, everything else seemed to follow effortlessly. Thinking about J's favorite foods and the things that always feature on her request for me to cook when she visits, I have to imagine my specialty is lentils, beans and the like. Everyone seems to like those - not just J.

If I am cooking for company or bringing something over for a potluck, a dish featuring beans would definitely be a very safe bet. Not as fun, challenging or exciting as baking but a core skill all the same. If this is true, it may be great way for novice home cooks to dabble around until they find their version of bread or bean and really double down on mastering that thing - try every recipe where their skill will be the centerpiece. A series of hits can do wonders for the confidence specially when a person is starting on in the kitchen with high hopes and little else. 
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