Pairing dishes

I am glad, my parents taught me what vegetable dish to pair with the main dish. And how to prepare them. I am glad that my parents ate well, therefore fed me well too. I am also glad, that they taught me which sauce and side dish adds the best flavors in the meal of the day. A complete meal, with sauces and dishes that complement and accentuate each other’s taste.

I remember my parents picking us up from school. We drove down the hill separating the town we go to school at from home in the bigger city. He mentioned that my mother made sambal stuffed fish, I googled the fish’s name – it says Torpedo Scad. We just call it ikan cencaru. My father says mama cooked a vegetable dish too, both dishes to be eaten with rice. He told us to guess it, throwing in an attractive offer of some cash for the right answer. He said it is important to know what vegetable to pair with the main dish.

The answer turned out to be the white vegetable soup. Cabbage, tofu and tofu skin cooked in watered down coconut milk. A good partner to the simple fried fish and the sambal stuffed inside it. Truth be told, I had the answer in my head, I just didn’t know the name of the vege dish. My then seven-year-old brother answered it instead.

Since then, I pay more attention to the compatibility of the vege dish to the main, heavier dish.

And I thought that every family learned of this from their parents. But that was sadly not the case. Cooking with my housemates can be challenging, as the differences among us means learning new lifestyles and integrating them in my life. And not all these new teachings agree with mine. You know what they say, you cannot eat at everyone’s house.

Back to the point. I remember stir-frying a mix of broccoli and carrots seasoning with the simplest ingredients. But they told me that it was too simple and became annoyed when I answered “It tastes like vegetables” to their inquiries of how it tastes. To me, the vegetable dish is supposed to be simple, accompanying the heartier main dish, unless the vege dish is the main dish.

I realize the immense knowledge my parents passed down to me so casually, and I am grateful for them. And even my housemates admit my good taste in ccoking.

Besides that, I am glad that casually learning together the ways of living was part of my family life. Not every household practices that well.