Friday, September 3, 2010

Taking the chips out of Salsa...

I’ve been enjoying salsa a lot lately, but not the kind that I dip tortilla chips in. I’ve been doing a Zumba class, quite regularly, at the gym. In case you’re unfamiliar, Zumba pairs ballroom dance steps with Latin rhythms and driving beats to provide a great workout. The hour flies by. I’m a pretty good dancer to begin with, although I do occasionally do the steps backwards because I watch the instructor in the mirror. Our instructor, Laura is talented and energetic. She is friendly to her students; she has a beautiful smile with a slightly devilish twinkle in her eye. And let’s face it; she’s got a killer figure. I’ve come to notice that many of the basic principles of Laura’s Zumba class can be applied to cooking, especially if you’re a beginner. If the principle is in bold, capital letters, please imagine it to be Laura screaming, because this is what I hear. (Incidentally, the thought of Laura screaming at us is comical, because she’s so kind. Sometimes she hollers directions and then giggles.) Don’t be afraid to refer to or defer to an expert There’s no shame in following a recipe until you're comfortable or asking the help of someone more experienced than you for assistance with your technique. That’s what we’re here for. We want you to enjoy this as much as we do. We also want to be good examples and you keep us sharp. (Seriously, I would not mind being as fit as Laura one day.) Keep it fresh, mix it up As soon as I seem to get one routine and or song down, Laura plays a different routine. After I stumble around the first few beats, I find myself getting in the groove. You might make the fluffiest scrambled eggs in the East, but after you get that technique down, it’s time to move on to omelettes. WATCH YOUR CORE!!! “Ugh. Do I have to suck in my abs again?” May translate to, “Ugh, I hate chopping!” True, but your core skills and core disciplines are what will help you produce wonderful foods and then advance to the next level. You may even notice that you hate chopping because your knives are dull (core discipline) or the onion falls apart (core skill- there is one for round, semi-hard foods). Learn them. KEEP MOVING!!! Practice makes pretty darned good. During each session, if you’re lucky enough to be able to pay attention, you’ll find yourself improving your form and knowledge base. We all “miss the beat” sometimes. Sometimes, we forget ingredients or we screw up the technique. Other times, the recipe can be seriously flawed but we don’t figure that out until we are much more confident in our skills or we’ve tried it several times. So be it. When Laura has a routine that doesn’t go smoothly, she just matter-of-factly says, “I didn’t like that one very much” and moves on. When she misses the beat, she smiles, giggles and shrugs. We all dance to our own beat, after all and it is for fun. THE MUSIC DIDN’T TELL ME TO CHANGE STEPS!!! Find your own beat. Do your best to pay attention. One Sunday, Laura was on fire! We drilled and moved and sweated! More importantly many of her lessons revolved around listening to the music and letting it tell you when and what to do. I pay careful attention because that Laura is tricky!! Just when I think she’s going to do one step (because she did it that way last week) she’ll mix it up (and smile when she tricks me-I stand in the front of the room). In cooking, as you progress, you may encounter a recipe that directs your technique one way but your instincts say something else. You may try to premeditate what will happen. Try your way and see what happens, or not. It’s about finding your way and being able to distinguish the times you know best, the times you should follow the directions and how to combine the two to collaborate. And Laura’s best scream of all: I DIDN’T GET THIS WAY OVERNIGHT!!! Well, that’s good to know, Laura, because that means there’s hope for all of us. But it’s the truth. Nothing good comes for free and if the outcome is a fun experience that results in a delicious dish, then I think it’s worth it. Don’t you?