Joyce Chen Taught Me To Cook
Posted by Barry A Dobyns on Monday February 16 2009 @ 05:14PM EST
I taught myself to cook from the Joyce Chen Cook Book
Before Joyce Chen, I was a nerdy engineering student for whom the
pinnacle of culinary achievement was a can of tuna fish dumped into a
pan of box macaroni and cheese. (My brilliant insight: drain the tuna
fish first, don't assume the oil in the tuna can is a substitute for
the butter the box calls for)
I attended college in Cambridge in the late seventies and (at the wise
urging of a girl who I hoped to make my girlfriend), I taught myself
to cook by trying a recipe from this cookbook, and then going to Joyce
Chen's restaurant near MIT (and then later the one in Fresh Pond) to
taste it done right the next day, and then heading to the Chinatown in
Boston to get more ingredients the day after to try again.
Gradually, by following the recipes carefully, I learned how to
prepare ingredients properly, use spices well, and most importantly,
that fewer ingredients is often the correct path to a fabulous result.
Along the way, as is inevitable in most learning experiences, there
were spectacular failures. In a notable incident, I had prepared a
particular dish for friends and we were sitting on the floor eating. I
had used a bit too much Szechwan peppercorns, and we were all having
to set our bowl down to gulp a glass of water after nearly every bite.
Gregor the cat came over to sniff at one of our plates to see if there
was anything tasty to steal. Usually, we would let Gregor steal a bite
or two (we were lowly college kids, and considered ourselves peers to
the cat, or at least aspired to be the cat's peer). This time Gregor
turned his back on the plate and began to scratch furiously at the
hardwood floor, as if to say, "if this were a sandbox, I'd be burying
that ... stuff ... right now."
By the time my college career was over, I was able to improvise not
just edible Chinese food out of whatever I had in the kitchen, but
dishes that were as tasty as most Chinese restaurants (although never
as tasty as that at Joyce Chen's, darn). Even Gregor approved, most of
the time.
A 1st edition of Joyce Chen's book and a 1st edition The Cuisines of
Mexico by Diana Kennedy were my only two cookbooks for years and
years. They're still the ones that I reach for first. They're still
the only ones that I truly understand and trust. Personally, even the
revered The Joy of Cooking feels fatuous and complicated.
Plus, I also lived one year in the dorm nicknamed "The Joyce Chen
Small Living Place." (If you know which one, you know why too.)
Finally, no, she never became my girlfriend, the one who encouraged me
to get started on this adventure. But I can still cook Chinese food
well, 31 years later.