07.05.08
5th Letter to a Future Daughter
(A Dash of Love)
My Sofia,
The kitchen was a satisfying sanctuary for me this morning. I finally had the impetus to venture on two recipes that I’ve been planning to prepare for quite some time; Tuna Carpaccio and Espresso Barbecue. Your grandma blames Vinz, my “prodigal best friend,” for my redeemed enthusiasm in the kitchen. (He is the most wonderful man in and out of the kitchen – a tad hyperactive, but wonderful nonetheless. You’ll meet him one day…and yes, I impute my culinary recovery to him.) It’s not that I have not been minding the kitchen so much, because in fact, I spend a fair amount of time there daily, preparing not-so-special meals. It’s just that I almost forgot that cooking was one of my passions, I practically disregarded the memory that the prize money I received from NAMCYA was used to acquire a new oven, and back when I was 5 or 6 years old, the birthday gift I asked from my parents was for them to allow me to make something in the kitchen all by myself and without any help from a grownup. Papa had the chance to document that occasion with a couple of photographs which I’m enclosing in this letter.
…and sweetie, you will be taught to cook – from banana pancakes to espresso chocolate cake to espresso barbecue. You will not regret it. They say that men prefer women with knowledge in the kitchen – I don’t think so. Look at me, so un-preferred. Haha That should never be one of your motivations. Cook to improve yourself thoroughly. Life is so much like cooking. There will be trial and error, you never get it perfect the first time, but the procedure of trying is fulfilling – and if you are blessed more than enough, you will find someone to share your life – or recipes with. In cooking, or in life, just remember to make Love a major ingredient and I believe everything will be just fine.
Happy and successful cooking doesn’t rely only on
know-how; it comes from the heart…
~Georges Blanc~
…cooking done with
care is an act of love.
~Craig Claiborne~
Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with abandon or not at
all.
~Harriet Van Horne~
A cook is creative, marrying ingredients in the way a poet marries words.
~Roger Verge~
To read all Letters to a Future Daughter, Click Here.
sirok said,
July 7, 2008 at 10:22 pm
sigh. do you know that my daughter’s name is sofia? i gave her the name because it is Greek for wisdom and i do so desperately pray that she will be wiser than her mom. haha.
before i came across your blog entry i was already planning on publishing a book with letters to sofia. i guess the idea has been taken. i must look for a fresh start. good thing i haven’t even ventured on the first syllable yet. hehe.
you write beautifully. maybe you should have your work published. i think it can fly.
Miracle ♪♫ said,
July 7, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Oh, Miss… that’s mighty sweet of you. May my group of Letters for a Future Daughter be not hindrance enough for your intended project just as I am continuing with the plan of christening my future daughter, “Sofia”, despite the name being taken. I will name her that also because of its sagely connotation as I explained in one of the letters. What a lovely coincidence! I do hope to read your set of letters/book someday – I know I’ll learn so much from them and that they’ll surely make our Sofias better people.