Having spent nearly the entirety of both (our)Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Eve cooking, I find I’m facing a question that has never occurred to me before. What, exactly, do I like to cook? And, inevitably, that question led to more. What, in fact, do I like to eat?

Perhaps what prompted this is my reflection upon how differently I cooked each day. The first, (our)Thanksgiving Day, was a total traditional, American Holiday style glut. Stuffing, crispy mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce (from the can, no less!), corn casserole (a new addition), a real turkey breast (done in the Instant Pot, and probably shouldn’t have been)- cooked to mediocrity-, gravy, and 2 kinds of pie. Perennial favorites, all.

Christmas Eve, however, was an Asian Feast. 2.0, in fact. Last year, I made curry and naan, so in a nod to a new family food tradition, an Asian Feast it had to be. In a previous blog post, I wrote about my first attempt at this meal. I had been looking forward to trying it again, but this time, with a slightly different menu. 

I remember that my cook on (our)Thanksgiving Day was relaxed and calm. I paced it well, working steadily for a long time, and bringing all of it together for a lovely, sit down meal. Things baking and cooking in low heat; a radiant oven. Warming spices like cinnamon and clove; copious amounts of butter, comforting textures and familiar flavors. It was wholly satisfying- from the order of the prep, to the timing of the finished food, to the general deliciousness and pleasure. 

The Asian Feast is a more technically challenging meal than a Traditional American Holiday meal. A much different palate, with its own characteristics. Sesame, soy, garlic, ginger, scallion. Dark, salty like the sea and earth, old. Flavors created with flame, in a hot pan, perfect one moment, and instinct and practice to tell you when. I am not yet adept at making fried cauliflower, scallion pancakes, sesame chicken, and stir-fry green beans in a way that they can all be enjoyed at the same time. Instead, the cauliflower and the scallion pancakes were appetizers, and eaten standing around the kitchen table with fingers. A different variety of a satisfying eating experience.

I did enjoy both cooks, but even so, I wonder- which experience do I find most rewarding? That brings me back to the second question from above- what do I like to eat? I am not at all sure I can answer that at the moment- I find it difficult to separate the eating from the prepping. Perhaps because a challenging, unpredictable, or frustrating prep can counteract the pleasure of the eating experience. So, this, then, is the real question-

What do I like to cook that I also enjoy preparing?

OK, 2020. Challenge accepted.