Carminia Rinjani: Home Cooked Meals' Magic

There is something about home cooked meals. I always believe in the magic of those dishes set up on the table, cooked by my Mom and enjoyed by everyone who was visiting my house. On regular days these meals also satisfy the household, or sometimes forgotten just because some might be too busy and spend dinner or lunch outside. However, there is still a magic in these meals prepared by Mom.

I do love cooking, and I do, sometimes, think that my Mom's cooking is just okay, not so mouthwatering delicious, but it makes me sit down and eat, and enjoying every bite of it. I can taste that the beef might be dry, or it's too tough to bite, but I eat it anyway. And everyone in the house eat as well. There is just a magic in those meals.

Me and Mom sometimes cook together in the kitchen. I watch her how she prepared food, how she was very critical in mixing all the spices and cooking it through, and how she used cooking method that was so impractical to me. I did lots of comments back then about how she cooks, but now I learn a lot from her, and she learns from me too.

There was a time when both of us have huge arguments in the kitchen, on how we dress and how we think when we clean something. It's just a big mess for both of us, we never talked so much, none of us was listening to each other. Teenage years, I think it was very hard for every parents. Then things change when I started to learn how to cook. We shared our knowledges, we peeled garlic and shallots together up till late night, we laugh on how our sambal should taste, and many other laughter in our kitchen.

The magic of the meals prepared by her in our kitchen is that it can bring people together, sit and eat. Without even talking about the food. We just converse. We have something to eat and then talk. The food always taste awesome to me, I always enjoy eating every bit of those meat, string bean, and other delicious things that she cooked.

As a female now I realize that the duty of a mother is not just to cook. A mother gave birth to children. A mother takes care of the whole family. A mother is the person who is in the middle of everyone. A mother doesn't pick sides. A mother understands, and feel through your eyes and voices. She doesn't just cook great meals, there are lots of things that she sacrifices during those moment when she cooks, when she thinks about the family and how to keep things running.

And the rest of the people in the house are the males. I have three brothers and one is no longer staying with us, he's a married man. I was once told by one of my brothers about how much my mother really needs attention. He told me that because I had a huge fight with mom. Today, I think nobody could ever understand how to give that attention to mom. Some people just find their happiness by themselves. Words and advices are given just because we can see it, but we can't feel it, actually. Those are the things that are right to do, but are not at all easy to do.

I can't say I understand it well on how it feels to be my mom. But to see the crowd on the dining table should define how happy she is.