What really defines a kitchen? Can it only be defined as a room where one engages in culinary adventures or cooking a mundane daily meal? Looking at it only through this lens, reduces the experiences and joy this seemingly ordinary room gives us. I have been reflecting on the kitchens of my friends and family and even the relationship I share with my own kitchen. You might think that I have nothing much to be doing, but this seemed to be a rather interesting thing to think about. 

A kitchen is comprised of the most basic things such as a sink, a stove and a work area to chop vegetables and carry out other kitchen-related tasks. Apart from this, we also set it up and maintain it a certain way and even equip it with certain devices to assist us in the process of cooking. From the spices and ingredients which one keeps in a kitchen to the equipment and even to the way in which one’s kitchen is maintained, I believe that a kitchen reflects oneself. This seems to be a rather broad statement to be making, but let’s look into this a little more. 

I’ve observed that those with kitchens which have rather simple ingredients, are mostly those who either don’t enjoy the experience of eating altogether and eat as a means of sustenance or aren’t very adventures eaters. Then there’s another group of people who have ingredients which don’t even belong to their own ethnicity. This can be seen in the variety of cooking oils ranging from coconut and mustard to olive and even in the spices and herbs they keep. Accommodating the number of ingredients in a limited space is a whole other ballgame. Some can really make a small space beautiful and aesthetic whilst accommodating all their ingredients, which I feel reflects a rather artistic and aesthetic self and some struggle to keep even larger spaces well maintained and beautiful. We have messy kitchens, sparkling clean kitchens and the kitchen which is a little bit of both. Each, having their own beauty. 

To me, cooking is a very personal process, partly one of the reasons why I don’t like many people in the kitchen while I am cooking. I love to observe the meat and veggies I cook. Really see it evolve and change colour under pressure much like we humans do as well. The smell and aroma of food and everything that accompanies the process of cooking is truly beautiful. It’s exactly like writing a story. You take inspiration or in this case ingredients from multiple sources, ones that you find best and make it come to life, bursting with flavour and all the love you’ve put into articulating it. 

Coming back to the kitchen, I’ve also noticed that there is no right or wrong way of keeping one’s kitchen (this of course may not apply to a commercial set up). It is simply how certain traditions have been passed down to you by your family or what you may have picked up observing a cooking space that you may have liked over the years. I have often had many disagreements with my mom, not only when it comes to the kitchen, but also in a number of other areas around how we settle and manage our home. We do get annoyed with each other quite often in this regard. However, I don’t think I would be able to suggest even half of the changes I do, without my mother teaching me the things she has, quite a bit of which I also do inculcate in my kitchen etiquette as well. 

All this aside, the kitchen is one of the places at home where I’ve had the most fun and made the most memories. Starting from bursting out into a hysterical fit of laughter with my mom while cooking, which is almost a result of the silliest of things, to my friends crowding into my small kitchen and chit chatting with her while cooking when they come over, it is a place “where the main action is at!” as one of my closest friends N rightly puts it. 

We often overlook the mundane and the ordinary in our day-to-day hustle. However, it is often the mundane that truly brings out our nature and our sense of being. We safely deposit small pieces of ourselves into the ways in which we carry out our tasks and activities. Which is why we need to pause for a while, even amidst the hustle, to truly find ourselves, even if it is through our day-to-day tasks such as cooking and keeping spaces such as our kitchen as a reflection of ourselves.