Cooking is an essential skill, because it is a skill that is important for one’s survival. I decided to learn the basics of cooking and applied my learnings to create three dishes.
LO1: To begin, I first identified my strengths and weaknesses. I had some experience with cooking, but my basics were weak, such as cutting. I realized that several of technical skills associated with cooking were weak and I lacked knowledge about different ingredients. But I knew a good amount about different cuisines and dishes that they consisted, so I decided to begin with working about learning new cooking techniques.
LO2: I started with cutting and mixing of different ingredients, as well as preparation. It was difficult as it required getting used to new apparatus such as knives and peelers, etc. and it required careful, repetitive practice. I was more equipped to prepare the ingredients for dishes such as cutting vegetables, grinding pulses, etc. that showed I developed many cooking skills. More rigorous cooking practices showed that many stations had to be handled at once which required a good management of resources and time, and hence the experience helped me be more organized while cooking and cook more efficiently.
LO3: I needed to plan in advance and create a schedule for cooking. Because practice is time-taking, and I have academics as well, I had to be pre-plan. I decided to take weekends as I had the time in the morning to get the ingredients and I could prepare the dishes later. I created a plan for learning some of the techniques online and get the knowledge of some cuisines before beginning to cook in order to make my practice more fruitful.
LO4: Learning cooking was difficult as it required a lot of practice and sometimes I felt like giving up. The challenges were tough to overcome but I realized that this was important for me and would benefit me in the future, so I stuck with it and gained some expertise. I knew that committing to the task would be difficult, but also that the rewards for my commitment would be worthwhile the effort, which is why the experience also helped me develop perseverance.
LO5: Cooking was not easy, and individually I would not be able to complete a dish in time with the same success. During cooking, I took the help of one of my friends and my mother to manage everything and the results were evident. We were able to help each other and collaborate in a way that helped me gain a lot of information of cooking and the techniques that I may want to use and safety tips that I should follow which did make a difference.
In the end, I created alfredo pasta, butter paneer, and lasagna over the course of the entire experience, and I made sure to be as sustainable as possible by not wasting any ingredients and using locally available vegetables and other food products in my cooking. This helped me develop the learner profiles “Caring, Balanced, Knowledgeable“.
