Me, Cooking and Cooking Lesson

Masak?

Cooking?

Hmm..

Kalau urusan komputer sih.. ga bikin saya jiper-jiper banget. Contohnya, beberapa hari lalu senior-senior saya datang untuk membuat laporan. Dan setiap kali mereka bingung bagaimana menghapus tabel atau menyelipkan baris..

When it comes to computer.. it is not freaking me out. For instance, few days ago my seniors came to make some reports. And everytime they didn’t know how to erase a table or insert a row..

“Keke!”

Padahal sebetulnya saya juga sama tidak tahunya seperti mereka.. hehe.. apalagi karena program yang mereka pakai adalah program yang jarang saya pakai.. tapi saya mengikuti nalar saja.. rasa-rasanya ini harus tekan tombol kanan di mouse, cari cut atau insert row.. nah.. beres deh..

Well, I actually just as lost as they were.. hehe.. especially because they used a program that I rarely use.. but I just followed my instinct.. click the right button on mouse, found cut or insert row.. there.. it’s done..

‘Rasa-rasa’ atau sering disebut dengan istilah memakai ‘feeling’ bisa saya terapkan dalam bidang komputer, bahasa asing, menulis dan fotografi. Berhubung ‘feeling’ saya kuat untuk bidang-bidang itu, saya bisa cepat mengerti dan cepat bisa. Dan keahlian saya dalam 4 bidang itu saya dapatkan lebih banyak secara otodidak atau belajar sendiri.

Doing it by instinct or here in my country better known with the term ‘using your feeling’ can be applied to these fields; computer, foreign language, writing and photography. Since I have strong ‘feeling’ for those fields I don’t have much trouble on understand and practicing them. I Iearn each field mostly on my own.

Tapi kalau soal masak.. haha.. itu lain ceritanya..

But when it comes to cooking.. haha.. it is a different story..

Sewaktu saya menginap 3 hari 2 malam di rumah sahabat lama saya, saya heran melihat Santi, sahabat saya itu, demikian cekatan dalam hal masak.

When I spent 3 days and 2 nights at my bestfriend’s house, it amazed me to see Santi was quite good in cooking.

“Elu belajar masak dari siapa?” tanya saya sambil memperhatikan dia membuat mie rebus untuk saya, sapo tahu dan ayam jamur.

“Where did you learn to cook?” I asked as I watched her making boiled noodle for me, sapo tofu (chinese cuisine cooked and served in claypot, the ingredients used are tofu, shrimp, beef and some veggies) .. and chicken with mushroom.

Soalnya saya kenal betul Santi. Kami berdua sama-sama tomboy. Jaman kuliah dulu mana ada kepikiran soal masak. Eh, kok sekarang dia jadi bisa masak. Yah, gaya masaknya sih masih ngoboi, kayak orangnya, tapi masakan buatanya enak lho..

It is because I know Santi. We both are tomboy. Back in our college time none of us thought about cooking. So now it is a surprise seeing her good in it. Yeah, so she is still very much a tomboy, that applies to her cooking style too, but the meals she cooks taste pretty good..

“Ntar kalau elu married.. elu mau ga mau harus bisa masak” dia nyengir “Kalau ga gitu, laki sama anak elu di kasih makan apa”

“When you are married.. you just have to learn to cook” she grinned “Or what would you feed your husband and kids?”

“Telor” jawab saya tanpa berpikir.

“Eggs” was my quick answer.

“Nah dari hari Senin sampe Senin elu kasihin telor?” Santi spontan tertawa “Seminggu begitu, muka anak lu kayak telor”

“You’re feeding them eggs from Monday to the next Monday?” Santi laughed “You feed them that a week and the face of your kids would look like egg”

“Bukan itu aja” saya ngakak “Laki gue bisa klenger gara-gara kolesterolnya naik”

“No, there’s more” I laughed it out loud “My husband would knock out for having his cholesterol raise up”

Saya mungkin tidak terlalu harus khawatir dalam hal masak-memasak karena saya diberkahi ayah yang jago masak dan Andre juga handal di dapur.

I may not have to worry about cooking since I am blessed to have a father who is good in cooking and Andre happens to be good in it too.

“Nah, elu belajar dong sama mereka” kata teman saya.

“So learn cooking from them” said my friend.

Sudah. Kalau saya cuti dan tidak kemana-mana, saya senang memperhatikan ayah saya atau Andre masak. Yah, tergantung mood juga. Kadang cuma nonton, mencatat bahan-bahan yang mereka pakai dan memotret.

I did. When I was on leave and not going anywhere, I love watching my dad or Andre cooked. It depends on my mood. Sometimes I was just watching, noted the ingredients and took pictures.

Kalau lagi semangat, saya mau ikut melibatkan diri dalam proses memasak walaupun jadi rame karena saya ribut bertanya;

When I am in high spirit, I join in the cooking though I always make myself as a noisy cooking companion;

“Pa, bawang merahnya berapa banyak?”

“Dad, how many onion should I use?”

“Apa dulu yang ditumis?”

“Which one goes first to be fried?”

“Airnya segimana?”

“How much water do you use?”

“Duh, muridnya bawel banget” nyokap sampe tertawa melihat saya yang biasanya kalem dan pendiam mendadak jadi cerewet.

“You’ve got one noisy student there” my mom laughed seeing me who is calm and quiet turn noisy.

Saya jadi cerewet begitu karena papa dan Andre sama saja kalau sudah sampai ke urusan takaran. Semua serba ‘dikira-kira’, ‘dirasa-rasa’, ‘secukupnya’, ‘pake feeling’.

I became noisy because my dad and Andre are same when it comes to measuring the amount of each ingredient. Everything is ‘pour some’, ‘add a little’, ‘just feels it’.

“Bawang putihnya berapa banyak?”

“How much garlic?”

“Secukupnya”

“Use some”

Hih, bikin stress.. kalau kebanyakan rasanya ga karuan, kesedikitan ga ada rasa.

Geez.. if I put too much it would taste awful, less and it would tasteless.

“Mie direbus berapa lama?”

“How long does it take to boil the noodle?”

“Dirasa-rasa aja”

“You feel it”

Dirasa-rasa gimana?? Kalau terlalu cepat, mie setengah matang. Kalau kelamaan, mie jadi lodoh, lembek, kematangan.

Feel like what?? Too quick and the noodle is raw. Boils it too long and it is overcooked.

Atau mereka yang cerewet…

Or it is them who turn noisy…

“Jangan pegang pisaunya kayak gitu” Andre berseru kaget melihat saya sedang bersiap-siap untuk memotong-motong sayuran “Sini, saya aja yang motong”

“Don’t hold the knife like that” Andre shrieked when he saw me ready to cut the veggies “Here, I do the cutting”

“Biar papa aja yang angkat pancinya” kata ayah saya ketika saya sudah bersiap-siap untuk mengangkat panci berisi rebusan mie.

“Let me take that pan” said my dad when I was about to take the pan with boiled noodle in it.

Keluh.. gimana saya bisa belajar masak dengan benar kalau yang satu takut jari saya luka teriris pisau sementara yang lain takut saya tersiram air panas..

Sigh.. how can I learn how to cook if one afraid I would cut my finger with the knife while the other worries I would accidentally pour the hot water on to myself..

Tapi saya tetap senang sekali-sekali belajar masak dari mereka. Sebetulnya masak itu asyik juga.. seru..

But I enjoy their cooking lesson. Cooking is actually cool and fun..

Selain itu saya perhatikan setelah saya mulai belajar masak, setiap kali saya makan.. lidah saya mulai peka.. saya senang menebak-nebak bahan-bahan dalam suatu masakan dengan merasakannya.

Beside that I notice after I learn cooking, there is sensitivity in my tongue because when I eat any meals, I like to guess the ingredients used in it by tasting it.

Lucunya kalau saya yang masak, saya jadi skeptis dengan hasil masakan sendiri.

Funny thing is if I do the cooking, I am sceptic about my own cooking.

Saya akan mencicipi dan mencicipinya lagi. Mengingat-ingat apa resep papa atau Andre sudah saya ikuti dengan benar. Membandingkan rasanya. Dan buat saya kok sepertinya tidak terasa sama dengan hasil masakan mereka.

I taste it and taste it again. Trying to remember if I have followed dad’s or Andre’s recipe correctly. Comparing the taste of mine with theirs. And somehow to me it feels not like their cooking.

Saya suka bikin Andre frustrasi kalau sudah begitu.

I oftenly frustrate Andre by that.

“Enak ga?” tanya saya sambil memperhatikan dia makan.

“Does it taste good?” I asked watching him eating.

“Enak” dia menjawab sambil asyik makan.

“It tastes good” he answered as he enjoying his meal.

“Tapi kok rasanya ga kayak bikinan si papa” saya berpikir.

“But it doesn’t taste like dad’s cooking” I thought.

“Ini enak, sayang” dia menghela napas.

“This is good, hun” he sighed.

“Enak beneran atau kamu bilang enak karena takut saya tersinggung?” saya penasaran.

“Do you really meant it or you just said it for not wanting to upset me?” I was curious.

“Keke, sayang, masakan kamu enak. Jadi sekarang jangan ribut supaya saya bisa menikmati makanan saya”

“Keke, honey, your cooking is good. Now shut up and let me enjoy my meals”

Hehe..