Member-only story
From Trauma to Taste
How Cooking Became My Happiness
I grew up always having a homemade meal on the table.
My mom worked a lot, but she still took the time to cook something ahead for me and my little sister.
If she couldn’t, we ate at my grandmother’s, who lived downstairs.
Even today, my mother is an amazing cook. There’s just something special about the way food tastes when she makes it — it’s always better than when you make it yourself!
Since moving out years ago, I’ve never cooked a microwave dinner (I don’t even own a microwave) or relied on fast food. I always try to make meals from scratch, using fresh, local ingredients. Yes, sometimes I do cook what might be considered ‘unhealthy’ food because I believe it’s also about flavor and enjoyment.
I’m really grateful to have grown up in a household where cooking was important.
After middle school, I attended a tourism and business school.
I hated it.
The cooking lessons were the worst — a complete nightmare, with a teacher who was always yelling. We had to prepare four-course meals in two hours, which felt like torture. The grading system for the final exam was absurd.
