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Cooking

Gila Nehemia

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A meditative sensual experience

So I need to tell you a secret. I felt that I could not make good fresh bread. You know the one that makes your mouth water for more. My youngest daughter recently could not have enough bread. This was her sustenance, given sometimes we did not have a lot to eat and bread was her thing. Though for me food became and always was a sensual experience.

I grew up with a multitude of South Asian spices, coconut, cardamom, and a plethora of exotic fruits and vegetables. I did not eat a lot though my mother cooked a fresh meal daily. It was only years later when I began cooking for myself that I felt I could not measure up to my mom’s skill in the kitchen. I decided I could get by with some mustard seeds, chili peppers, and canned chickpeas. As I matured and became a single mom I needed to cook for myself and my growing kids. It was more of a chore than a pleasure. A few years ago I found myself in the kitchen and realized it was a creative process. I allowed my hands and tastebuds to lead me. Tasting, feeling, smelling, and imagining.

A few years ago when I could not buy bread regularly I decided to live my dream of baking bread. I bought a new oven and started experimenting with sourdough starter and the bread-making process. It was so much fun, very sexy and pleasurable. The waiting, the anticipation, the rise, the fall, the dryness, wetness, and the…

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