Shift Into Dance

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Deena, a regular cooking student of Meal and a Spiel says to me in front of a kitchen full of people. Whenever someone begins a soliloquy with “Don’t take this the wrong way”, it’s best to brace yourself.

“What I love about your classes is that you always mess something up.”

Here I am–the teacher, business owner and self-proclaimed expert, hired to put my students’ time and money to good use–and she’s pointing out my errors. Is she telling everyone I’m not worthy? My gut reaction is defensive: prove her wrong.

But how can I? It’s true.

I’ve allowed bread to burn. Lamb stew to char. Swordfish to overcook. In my first pasta class ever, I burnt the garlic three times in a row! I’ve forgotten to bring ginger to Thai class and smoothie ingredients to detox class. I’ve even shown up with salmon that had gone bad. And this–THIS–is what she thinks makes me a great teacher?

Deena’s not alone. Countless students tell me that my mistakes are what teach them the most. In those moments, we’re all forced to shift, to creatively adjust to the situation. It’s a recipe for life and cooking. If we panic and freeze, we don’t eat. And that’s not an option!

Cooking is like dancing. At dance parties there are two types of people.

There are those of us who dance all night. When an unfamiliar song starts to play, we may be hit with a jarring wave of sound, but we don’t freeze. Even when we go from feeling like the smoothest operator on the dance floor to having two left feet, we trust that, as the music continues, our internal rhythm will adjust until our bodies find their way back in sync with the beat.

Then, there are those who only get on the dance floor for the songs they know. These people can’t cook because they’re afraid to improvise.

If this describes you, pour yourself a glass of wine, get in the kitchen, close the curtains, and blast the music. FInd any recipe and boogie and twirl your way through it, making as many mistakes as possible. Yep, screw it up. Just have fun!

Cooking demands that we shift into dance. We must stay open to the whims of the moment. We must adapt to sudden changes, whether they’re in our control or not. Scrape the blackened side off the bread and continue making crostini. Take the lamb out of the burned pot and continue cooking it in more wine. Use galangal instead of ginger. And, on rare occasions, if something is truly unfixable, like the spoiled salmon, well, just say you’re sorry, take note, and be done with it. Go to the fridge, shift into dance, and waltz up something else!