Ivy Allaisa Rabano, 9A

Ma’am Marivic Caimol

TLE
May 10, 2024

MY JOURNEY AS A COOK

I have always had the misconception that cooking was easy, it requires only the
ingredients and the steps to make the most delicious dish as if you are Gordon Ramsay or even
the infamous Nara Smith who cooks almost everything from scratch. But as the school year
progressed, those thoughts were debunked and with that it hit me that cooking requires great
knowledge and practice. Cooking isn’t something you learn to master overnight, but rather it is
something that requires numerous trials and errors.

As someone who wasn’t really allowed to use the stove to cook, everything felt new to
me. Growing up I had always been used to eating already cooked food by my grandmother and
they were delicious. I was so used to it that I never really bothered learning how to cook by
myself and therefore I developed a fear of going near the stove because oil might accidentally
splash on me. Before this school year, All I knew was that cooking normally requires oil, hence
the only cooking supplies I knew are frying pans, stock pots, and I couldn’t even differentiate
between knives.

However, as the school year progressed, I was fortunate enough to grasp new learnings
about the world of cooking. I learned about different types of eggs, how they are marketed and
harvested, I learned about different fishes and how they are also marketed, I learned about
vegetables and the different marketing forms of vegetables, different types of cooking such as
poaching, roasting, I was able to learn different types of beef. And most importantly, I learned
different cooking materials.

It is quite hard to choose a favorite dish amongst all the dishes we cooked this year as I
can proudly say that we were able to pull off our projects. But, our chicken tenders really stood
out. We cooked it last third quarter with our group headed by Syrus La Valle. The cheese tasted
great, and of course the fries and chicken too. If given the chance, I would choose the same
group mates to cook it with. Besides that, I am a girl who loves salad which is why I really loved
our Caesar Salad.

With my enhanced cooking skills, I am now able to fry my own foods at home! There
have been countless nights wherein I had to disturb my sister just because I suddenly feel hungry
and I wanted her to cook for me. Now though, I can proudly say that I can cook simple things at
home. I can make my own mushroom soup, I can make tacos, Corn Dogs, and I even learned to
bake simple goods. I can proudly say that it has been a successful cooking journey for the past 10
months. And ofcourse, to make the scrumptious dishes, I was able to overcome my fear of oil
splashing on me. It has been an amazing school year filled with yummy dishes that made me and
my group mates happy.