“The More, The Merrier” Written by Cynthia Zarin

“The More, The Merrier” Written by Cynthia Zarin

The article “The More, The Merrier” explores the life of a woman Cynthia Zarin who is searching and learning the meaning of cooking. She acquires the cooking skills from various personnel, which includes her mother, her roommate, and lastly, a summer trip after visiting France. The noncook later blossoms in the field, becoming one of the best chefs around. She prepares exceptional meals for her family and colleagues.

The article commences as Cynthia remembers the kitchen, which she often used to prepare her meals when in college. The kitchen size was small, which she compares to the size of a closet. Also, the appliances were outdated and missed most of the modern fashionable kitchen equipment’s which would propel her cooking skills (Cynthia, 2019). She reminiscences that her cooking career did not come from her or her mother. She sarcastically recalls how her mother would serve her with regular dinners meals and serve her friends with luscious appetizers during dinner parties and family gatherings. However, later in life, Cynthia picks up the passion for cooking in her life and excels very well in the field.

Cynthia continues to describe how desolate cooking was in her college life. She explains how her roommates are right in the kitchen except one of them. Generally, her life in college was full of fun, as Cynthia and her friends spend most of their time while cooking. She continuously improves her cooking skills by learning a lot of cooking techniques from her friends. Cynthia emerges position one in the inter-colleges cooking competitions and wins an award.  She describes a scenario where one of her friends thinks that everything goes when it comes to making soups. In this particular activity, she throws everything in the pot, which makes the very tasteless, and everybody fails to take it. The event reminds her of her early moments in cooking, which were similar to her friends’. It is of the activities which drive her to the college to learn the cooking skills. Also, in her article, Cynthia includes a story of her roommates who prepares tomato sauce by smashing a can of tomatoes. The activity sparks her interest in cooking, and she is ready to venture into the world of it (Cynthia, 2019). Cynthia coins the summer trip to France as not only a mission of learning how to cook but also being a great cook. Currently, Cynthia has her children, who she prepares mediocre meals. Similarly, Cynthia makes functional pieces of stuff for her colleagues during her dinner parties. She teaches her children the skills of cooking, which she refers to as having a good grasp.

Overall, I like the way the author brings us into the world of how she learns to cook. Cynthia acquires the skills of preparing food in her college education, which attributes her passion. I think people tend to think and make judgments that children whose parents are great cooks will eventually have culinary skills. Besides, they perceive cooking as a skill that a child acquires from her parents when growing. However, in his narrative, Cynthia makes us see that it is not necessarily the case. Cynthia’s mother was an excellent cook, whereas she could not cook a meal to save her life (Cynthia, 2019). Cynthia begins her journey in cooking after finishing her secondary education, which results from passion. She desires to not only become a cook but a great and professional cook who will prepare the meals for her own family, friends, and others. In her article, she coins cooking as a little less intimidating activity in which one can learn if he/she is willing.

Although Cynthia, in her article, describes cooking skills as an activity which one acquires out of passion and studies, I have a great feeling that a large percentage of the skills one can gain from their parents. The fact that we spend a lot of time with our parents in the kitchen makes us grasp a lot of cooking skills which we can use as the basis of the cooking journey. Cooking is more of an art and we can easily acquire the skills through apprenticeship. If we only take the activities and the responsibilities which our parents delegate to us seriously, we can become great cooks. Most of our parents propel very well in the cooking activities, and a result prepares very delicious meals for our family meals. I do not relate any benefit of spending time and resources in colleges to learn how to prepare mediocre meals for our families. Besides, we should show attention and watch keenly when our parents are cooking. However, I can recommend people who have a passion for cooking and who want to pursue it as a carrier to visit learning institutions to acquire extensive skills and become great cooks.

References

The More the Merrier? Children With Multiple Siblings More Susceptible to Bullying. (2019). PsycEXTRA Dataset. DOI:10.1037/e500382019-001