Singh Dueep J - Beat the Clock: Cooking for One or Two

Those days of leisure are gone, when the womenfolk of the family spent hours and hours in the kitchen, thinking up recipes, after collecting all the ingredients present in the cellar or in the garden. That was when they were going to use their creativity in order to make up hearty, nourishing meals for the whole family.

In fact, in olden times, it was the responsibility of one particular person to cook for the whole family, and she would not be bothered with other duties. That was because everybody knew that her forte was cooking and she was happy, cooking in the kitchen, brewing up recipes, contacting her friends for new tips and techniques, concocting some marvelous surprises and some fabulous failures, and so on. And the full family appreciated this effort on her part.

Times changed, and the joint families started to go nuclear in the 20 th and 21 st century. Instead of a full family living together and eating together and playing together and praying together, many families started moving away from the main family and setting up their own households.

Even today, teaching members of the younger generation how to cook or prepare food items is an important part of family traditions all over the world.

So there they were, one or two in a family until of course the family group grew in numbers. With the passing of the years, this began to be more of a trend, and a rule instead of the exception.

With more and more technical development and better chances of finding jobs or employment opportunities away from a natal village or a city, more and more youngsters began moving away to lands, of which their forefathers had only dreamt. Consider this the enterprising and adventurous spirit. Also consider this the chance of spreading your own wings, but all on your ownsome.

After the Second World War, when the females of the family who normally were preserved and protected by the other members of the family until they were given away in marriage both in the East and in the West found that conventions and traditions were changing slowly so as to give them more opportunities to leave the family nest and strike out on their own.

So many of these young girls who had learned all about independence in Two World Wars, learnt that it was easy for them to pick up more better paying jobs in the city far away from their town. And so they had to learn to fend for themselves, especially when it was their responsibility to feed themselves, clothe themselves and keep themselves healthy.