Be Curry-ous, Buy Curry

Experimentation can spice up your life in many regards, including in the culinary sense. Whether you normally cook for just yourself or for others, trying new things
in the kitchen can be extremely gratifying. And especially around the holiday season, it offers you all sorts of pronounced reactions that you’re looking for, as well as those you’re not: everything from “Mms” and puckered faces to flatulence and heartburn. So tread softly, friends.



But do still tread. Learning improvisation (sounds like an oxymoron, right?) in the kitchen this year has been an actual joy for me. Whether or not my roommates agree that the various ways in which I’ve learned to curry anything and everything is joyful, I’m sure is up for debate. Regardless, you’ve got to start somewhere, and for me that was currying things (particularly onions). How do you know what you want to make? Well, snoop around the kitchen, take inventory. I came to college with lots of spices on hand, which are relatively inexpensive, last long, and can be used to transform a simple legume into an Indian dish or a Southwestern one. But seriously, anything is fair game. Did you find some odd type of oil? A grain? Frozen vegetables? Potatoes? Canned tomatoes? They’ll all work. Try pairing things with familiar tastes first, then go crazy. (As a word of caution, baking is a lot less forgiving. Trial and error becomes very trying, so be patient with it if that’s what you’re going for. As an English major, though, chemical reactions just aren’t my style, so I stick to cooking.)

So once you’ve got everything in mind, consider starting with a basic thing you found. The thing about having your basic be meat is that it can be tempting just to cook it and say that’s that, so maybe use ground beef or another type of meat you have to use in conjunction with other stuff. If you’re going the spice experimentation route like me, sense of smell and mini tastes of individual spices can help inform your decisions. Remember that heat does bring out different flavors, so embrace that cautiously. If you’re not up for creating from scratch just yet, try amending a recipe: omit, add, cook it differently, whatever. Try diced sun-dried tomatoes instead of crushed tomatoes in a recipe. Try baking instead of boiling. Try peanut oil instead of canola.

To what end, you may ask?

Well, in case you are ever on a tight budget with repulsive food at best in your kitchen, remember those old spices and such that can create tolerable, or even tasteful, meals from virtually nothing. When something is out of season, but you are still craving home-cooked food or a flavor, having creative backups that satisfy your craving is another benefit. And ultimately, the gratification of creating and (sometimes) succeeding, because you WILL succeed sooner or later, is like that of any other art: it doesn’t need to explain itself. Just enjoy it.