What I don’t like about cooking

It isn’t the dishes, although I’ll prefer to do less of that so I minimise my cooking equipment for each meal.. In fact, when we have a bigger family, I’ll very likely want a dishwasher :)

I can’t remember when I started cooking. Was it before Oxford? Likely. Just instant noodles. Cooked more exciting things in school during home econs class – trivial: I topped sec 2 home econs..

But the first time I really cooked a proper meal was definitely in Oxford. I didn’t have a kitchen when I was a fresher staying in college but I had this electric pot that I used to cook everything in my room (illegally! :p). Later, I had access to four-hob electric stoves – flat top, not the coil types! We seldom saw gas stoves in the UK – they seemed to be paranoid about fires...

So I was pretty surprised to see gas stove in our room when we first got here. When I first turned the knob, I could smell only gas so we bought a lighter to ignite the thing. Later, I heard that others didn’t need a lighter... That was when I realised what the “LITE” at the end of the knob meant..! Got to turn all the way to ignite! Gaaar!

Anyway, this morning, I happened to look towards the stove while sitting here, studying for the dreaded Montessori exams, and I saw something odd.. Upon closer inspection, I found two sparks of fire below the cook top! They help the ignition. No wonder the stove top is always a little hot.. Don’t think the one Mother uses has such a spark. Different forms of ignition mechanisms, I guess..

Actually, I don’t like cooking on gas stoves. Mother has been working with a one-hob gas stove. Sometimes she also uses her charcoal stove but with age, it is getting difficult to move that heavy thing from storage..

After Oxford when I wanted to carry on cooking during the weekends in Sg, I wondered how Mother could use just one single hob!! And the stove was quite difficult to control – the knob was stiff, and the entire stove could move as it wasn’t fixed to anything... So for years, all I cooked was pasta. Once, I was stirring in spaghetti when I smelled burning hair and my little finger hurt – it was so hot near the pot that the hair there was singed! *.*

And now, using a gas stove again, I didn’t smell any burning hair but I definitely feel the heat on my hands when cooking and in fact, I don’t see much hair on the last two fingers of my right hand! And I keep getting food stains and burns on the cook top that are so difficult to remove! I was also fearful of setting off the fire alarm when my food sizzles.. The smells get into the bedroom but closing the bedroom door early in the morning when I prepare bento will disturb Sito cos the door creaks. And the light is right behind me.

Bah...

I miss our kitchen in our marital home... We have a two-hob induction cooker – no risk of burning hands, all stains are gone with a simple wipe after cooking... Oh, and we also had a kitchen hood with lamps above the cooker that clears the air and allows me to see my cooking. Sighs, too bad we didn’t have the opportunity to cook often then..