What Cooking In College Has Taught Me About Growing Up

I was ecstatic when I was told in my junior year of college that I would have a kitchen as part of my housing assignment. I self-identified as an absolutely terrible cook, and I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to make new things that tasted good and not have to eat terrible food in the dining hall. Little did I know, however, that cooking in college felt a lot like growing up. You make mistakes but keep going, keep improving, and eventually improve.

Starting With A Childhood Favorite

One of my favorite foods my mom would make would just be chicken tenders covered in panko breadcrumbs. They weren’t hard to make, just dip each tender into flour, then egg, then panko. Then fry in a frying pan.

That being said, I had always joked that if I tried to cook meat, I would give myself salmonella, and I was totally right. I distinctly remember the first time I made them, I took one bite, and the inside was completely raw.

I was going to put them back into the frying pan, but the great thing about having a roommate is that they ensure you don’t die. She recommended putting them in the oven instead and to brush my teeth. The oven trick ended up working and the chicken was cooked through, but it was not as good as my mom’s. That was not the last time I undercooked chicken by accident.

Even though I messed up in that scenario, the mistake gave me a sense of camaraderie with my roommate that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. I got the chance to lean on another person. It was nice to have someone help me. I had learned from that moment that part of growing up sometimes isn’t just about learning how to do things yourself, sometimes it’s about learning from others.

Turning To Pinterest For Inspiration

Later on, I went on a Pinterest craze. Ingredients that would otherwise not be bought now crowded every inch of the fridge and took up half of the kitchen’s cabinets — a jar of peppers I never ended up using, a head of cabbage that started rotting, and a jar of oyster sauce I only used once. My roommate was obviously thrilled by this.

I was trying a new recipe every other day, spending hours in the kitchen and doing what my roommate called “chefing out.” A high compliment considering her mom was a chef. The recipes I made were also more advanced — Japanese glass noodle soup, black pepper tofu, and chickpea patties to name a few.

That’s when I learned that part of life is experimenting with what works and what doesn’t. I tried new things even when I was scared and a lot of the time it’s worked out in my favor. One being my semester-long pursuit to make Alfredo pasta. I’ve been obsessed with Alfredo ever since I was a kid, and I wanted to learn how to make it myself. I had looked up numerous recipes on Pinterest on how to make it, and after multiple attempts, I was finally able to make it. I also learned another way to infuse creativity into my daily life. Adding, subtracting, and adding again my own spin on recipes gave me a creative outlet that I plan on using for the rest of my life. Making my own pizza from scratch let my creativity soar. Pinterest will teach you that you really can put anything on a pizza, such as onion and goat cheese pizza, potato and burrata pizza, and roasted squash and prosciutto pizza are some keen examples. The sky’s the limit.

Improvement & Intuition

I progressed to a point where by the end of the fall semester, I could decipher what I would be able to make in a pinch versus what would take me hours. I also discovered what ingredients I would use all the time versus what ingredients I would only use once and sit unused for the rest of the time. I evolved from following recipes exactly to being able to estimate measurements and play around with the recipes I had memorized from using them so often.

I was becoming self-sufficient. I was capable of doing things by myself and doing it well at that. My improving abilities showed me how continuing to work at something can lead to mass improvement and the acquiring of new skills you once never thought you could have.

Not all dishes turned out like I expected. The most memorable was my fettuccine carbonara, a pasta dish where the sauce is egg mixed with cheese and bacon and slowly cooked into a luscious, creamy coating for the pasta. My eggs, however, completely scrambled. I partially ate because I didn’t have the energy to make something else.

These mistakes are annoying, but I learned what not to do from them. That’s when I realized that mistakes you make in life are learning moments. They develop memories that show you what you did wrong so that you don’t do them again.

Cooking Is More Than A Recipe

Many people think that cooking is just about following a recipe. For me though, cooking is about experimenting with all different kinds of ingredients and using your imagination. Now, I love to cook because of the sense of accomplishment I get from doing it. Not to mention, I like good food.

I look back on all the cooking progress I’ve made and realize how far I’ve come. I can honestly say now that I’m a pretty great cook, and it was all through trial and error.