One of the more constructive things to have happened as a result of COVID-19, is to return to home cooking. With locksmiths close many dining (and drinking) establishments; markets and supermarkets opened for reduced hours with access only on certain days specified by your surname letter, and bake queues in bakeries, we have had no choice. However, with these limitations opportunities have come to connect, reconnect, learn, share and discover talents that we didn’t even know we had.
Before the pandemic, a hot meal was home-cooked for much of something they had only at weekends. However, having been forced to work and study at home without access to eating establishments, many were now enjoying (yes, enjoying) the delight of everyday homemade meals. Speaking to a friend last week, he noted that he didn’t realize what a good cook his wife was, because before COVID, almost no cooking was done at home because they ate mostly weekdays and at weekends, they ate at home home of family or friends. There are so many people I’ve been chatting with who have said the same or something similar. Our busy lives meant snacking on the go and never having the time to do it ourselves.
Homemade meals meant returning to the dining table, sitting, not only to share a meal but the fellowship that comes with it. I have heard many reports of people rediscovering the dining table, instead of eating in front of the TV or taking food and going to the bedroom. Families sat around the table, and in many cases opened up, slowly at first, about their lives and how they were coping and experiencing the pandemic.
Some of the cooks discovered skills they didn’t know they had, while others found joy in cooking. The sheer delight of showing and telling from first-time chefs and bakers showcasing their feats, especially on social media, was a daily dose of good feelings in the midst of these strange and sometimes troublesome days and months.
For those of us who live abroad, a taste of home was very comforting as we repeated and tried to create dishes from our home. For me, making and eating Pepperpot during the August holidays provided hope and a sense of belonging. Food, as I have said repeatedly, not only meets physiological needs, it also reassures, reassures, identifies and comforts, among other things.
Although banana bread was the most widely made dish and the most searched for recipe online, the reduced loaf of regular bread was really the star of this year. Many people made their own bread, but for the first time, equal numbers of people, if not more, made their own bread and discovered how easy it was. With long lines in ovens and various restrictions, people were buying more than 1 loaf to stock and freeze for later use. So turning to bread making seemed, and was, the most sensible thing to do. Many marveled at the difference in the quality and taste of their homemade bread compared to the store, even promising never to buy commercial bread again.
The rise in home-made bread meant that flour and yeast became valuable items with some supermarkets and shops running out of both, and in some cases, flour was limited to just a couple of sacks depending on the size.
It wasn’t just home cooking that was positive from 2020, but also kitchen gardening. Many people decided to use whatever space they have, including creating potted gardens, to grow their own vegetables and herbs. Seedlings continue to be a big seller as people try to find ways to feed themselves. Living in countries where one relies on food imports, and the threat of border closures, the ability to grow 1 or 2 fast crop vegetables is essential; lettuce, spinach (callaloo), beets, scallions, okra, squash are just some of the fast growing vegetables.
Another dimension to eating in 2020 is the rise of many home cooking / catering businesses. With many people losing their jobs and reduced working hours, they have turned to what they know, and a skill they have – cooking and baking.
This pandemic has wrecked havoc on economies, lives and living, and we still don’t know where and how things will be in the New Year and beyond. However, it has also taught us a lot – about life, living, adjusting, adapting, needs, desires, and much more. Some of the things we’ve learned are not to waste, that we can cook and that we can grow some of our own food. One can only hope that as times go on, we will not lose sight of the things we have learned.
Good luck for the New Year!
Cynthia
www.tasteslikehome.org