Project 30: Cooking to perfection

It looks like fried rice but believe me it does taste like paella.

I’m not a serious devout believer of Zodiac signs, but my personality is quite identical to my Zodiac sign. I was born in the month of September, which makes me a Virgo. And one of the key characteristics of Virgos is being a perfectionist.

I don’t consider myself as a hardcore, pure perfectionist, who will work tirelessly at anything and everything to achieve perfection. But I can say I am a different kind of perfectionist, a hybrid of sorts. Or if I may say it in my neurotic, nit picking point of view: a freak of nature perfectionist. Feel free to tell me what you think after my big revelation…

It is a fact that practice makes perfect (or you get by through sheer luck or you may just be one of those gifted ones). It’s not that I don’t like practice, but in anything and everything I do, I expect myself to get it perfect the first time around. I’m a perfectionist like that. A twisted perfectionist?

Of course, there have been countless times that I have failed miserably on the first try. Don’t most normal people do? Because I don’t get it perfect the first time around, I often am rendered motionless. Therefore, I don’t end up doing anything. I just keep on wishing and wishing I could do it (i.e. whatever activity I intend to do) perfectly the first time around. Or I keep on wondering how come I can’t do it as perfectly as other people can? Sigh.

But cooking has kept me in check of this unique quirk of mine. Cooking makes me want to try and not be perfect the first time around. Cooking makes me want to fail and learn and, most importantly, improve.

Earlier, I rolled up my sleeves and decided to brave the unknown: cooking paella. Like many, many dishes (such as the adobo), I have never ever cooked paella in my entire life. I always have my mama or my titas (aunties) to do it for me Paella seemed too complicated for the beginner cook in me. But, as a wife who truly wants to please her hungry husband’s palate, I conquered one of my greatest fears and tried to cook paella.

Yes, I tried and failed. I ended up making a very pale paella (As you can see in the picture above. It does look a lot like fried rice, noh?); but I learned what I needed to make the perfect paella.

Cooking makes me want to live a little more, try some more and fail a lot more. Because even if I end up making mistakes, what is more important is that I learn from those mistakes. Indeed, practice does make perfect with a lot of mistakes in between.

Delirious about delicious,

Didi

P.P.S. I won’t post the recipe just yet until I incorporate the learnings and improve the recipe. BUT if you do want a pale, fried-rice-lookalike paella, then drop me a line and I’d share the recipe with you

P.S. Me thinks Project 30 will finish soon! Check out my past Project 30 posts:

1. Desserts
2. Adobo
3. Food Traditions
4. Foodie Fridates
5. Frank Bruni’s Born Round
6. Filipino Breakfast
7. Top Chef TV Show
8. Bananas
9. Strawberries
10. Chili Con Carne
11. Spanish Sardines
12. Mila’s Tokwa’t Baboy 
13. Taho in a cup
14. Pipino Vegetarian Restaurant
15. Arroz ala Cubana
16. Aling Rita’s Isaw stall
17. Milk Tea