Chief Editor Pauline Ng shares her experiences
I started to cook after I retired. In the beginning, I cooked to fill my stomach during those days when I needed to spend long hours writing the procedural guide for the Legislative Council. While one needs to read and think a lot, there is nothing better than cooking at the same time. I did not expect to find such joy from cooking.
At first, I made soups. I added meat and vegetables into a pot of water, before serving it with a bowl of rice or some noodles. That was a meal for me. After a while, I began to study recipes and watch TV programs like MasterChef. I learned slowly but I was able to test out different ways of cooking. Not only was I able to cook for myself, I could even invite friends over and entertain them at home, where we could talk freely and I could save quite a bit of money.
For people stepping into their 60s, cooking is no big deal. Practice makes perfect. However, shopping for ingredients requires more some extra forethought. The wet market is always our preferred choice if we want to get something fresh, but in reality, we are so accustomed to shopping in supermarkets, bringing back bags of foods that fills our fridge and already packed cabinets, it is almost impossible to finish them before the expiry dates. So, advance planning is very important to ensure that we do not miss out anything essential but not buy too much as to hurt our spine or cause unnecessary wastage.
I like to use simple cooking utensils. Those of our age cannot afford to use very heavy pans and pots but we must use those made of good materials. I prefer utensils with single handles as it is easier to maneuver during cooking and cleaning. We also need a big pot that is big enough to submerge a whole chicken completely in water. This pot is perfect for making soups, cooking pasta and simmering long stews. We also need a Chinese wok to prepare different kinds of dishes including steaming meat and fish, but some may prefer to install a steamer for greater certainty and easy handling.
When my grandchildren were still very young, I often invited their families over to have dinner at my home during weekends. To cater for different preferences and age groups, I served food in buffet style with a variety of western and Asian dishes. After dinner, the kids were reluctant to leave and they were even willing to camp in my living room so that they could stick together. With their parents gone, they would share secrets with me, and I would tell them the childhood stories of their parents. We also created new stories with me starting it using the common: “Once upon a time, there were a brother and a sister…” trope. They would then continue the sentences of the story until one of us said: “They then lived happily ever after.” The next morning, we had breakfast and waited for their parents to pick them up. I am quite certain they would remember these lovely moments when they grow up, all started by my cooking.
