Cooking for Two

I can cook for two hundred, no problem; or for two dozen with one hand tied behind my back. But for two? Hmmm, hang on one sec.

A friend I recently had over for a hastily nuked dinner at Miles' place, where I'm "house-sitting," asked what I cook when I'm alone. Good question; my reply - nothing. When I'm on my lonesome, I'd rather buy food than cook it myself; which is logical because I don't really enjoy eating what I cook, no matter how good other people might say it is. And I don't really feel like exerting all that effort just to feed myself, so I avidly patronize neighborhood carinderia and other take-out fastfood places.

The one time I really cooked for myself was out of austerity during my student days in Paris, and also as a matter of survival: I couldn't live more than a couple of days without rice! So, to save me time, euros, and from the misery of rice deprivation, I used to cook a whole batch of kanin and ulam at one time, only to freeze it 'til needed (which was like, every day). Unfortunately, one of the major items on my cooking list was adobo, and, no matter how I tried to drive out the pungent smell of frying garlic and vinegar-soy, I always knew that rooms adjacent to my chambre du bonne , not to mention the innocent pedestrians traversing the length of Rue du Chateau were "assaulted" by the sensory stimulations brought about by my cooking. But I suppose that because I had Italian/ Mediterranean neighbors, they had no complaints. And, unfortunately, neither did the two guys who eventually became my roomies when I moved to Justin's - my week's supply of adobo was David and Hunter's pre-midnight snack.

But anyway. I don't really know how to cook for one person, good luck with two - but at this point I know I need to learn. I've been so used to feeding the multitudes that I've begun to miss out on those opportunities to share a meal with just one other human being. Not quite used to scaling down for two - I've always taken the lazy path and just gone out for a shared meal.

So this week I started cooking for two - it was amusing to use less than 1/2 kilo meat in a dish or to experience how fast the preps can go when in the hands of a trained "master." Actually, I've only still been cooking for one - I don't eat regular meals, but Antoine does, and this week I'm cooking for the both of us (he likes Pinoy soups). Good luck, Antoine, hehe...