The lady who taught us to cook

Today started off with a bad news. I found out that Siddqua Kabir passed away. She is the women behind the most well known and widely published Bangladeshi cook book,  Ranna Khaddo Pushti ( Cooking,Food, Nutrition).  Almost every expat Bangladeshi has this book.

I remember my mother leafing through this book when I was a child. My mother loves to cook and every so often she would open the book and read the recipes. I remembering spending many hot and sweaty summer afternoon with my mother deciding on which recipe to try out. My mother had the older version of the book.  She actually had to go and buy a second copy of the cook as the first one she owned was so worn out from use. I loved how the book was dedicated to the malnourished children of Bangladesh. This book had over thousands of recipes. From Bangladeshi regular food to special occasion food, Chinese, Italian, Russian, baking etc. This is the go-to book for cooking.

My used this book when I cooked for the first time. I made Shahi Tukrey when I was 12 or 13.  I got a copy of this book when I came to Canada in 2009. My mom got me the newer version of book.  After she got me the book, she kept on coming to my room and comparing her book to mine.  She realized mine had more recipes than hers. I think, after I left Bangladesh, she ended up getting a copy of the new book as well.

The newer version was printed in a better quality of paper, and included a few recipes that incorporated microwave cooking.  I use this book when I am cooking a lot. It literally lives next to my stove. I love how the book gives you a simple and basic recipe for everything.

Siddiqua Kabir also has a very popular cooking show in Bangladesh. I enjoyed watching her on TV. She had a no non-sense attitude towards cooking and always gave information about nutrition. In the recent episodes, I noticed how she would sit down while cooking. I never realized how old she has gotten. To me, she was a timeless woman. I always expected her to be around teaching us how to cook.  I am quite sad to find out that she passed away….I know she will be deeply missed by millions of Bangladeshis all around the world.

Hello world!

I decided not the change the title of this post since I am literally saying hello to the world (well, to a small community in the blogging world).  As I finished my MA a few months ago and ended up having a lot of free time (living by myself because of a long distance relationship and part time employment), I started to read loads of blogs on relationships, on food, on recipes, on just random stuff.  I was quite intrigued and mesmerized by the idea of having an online community. So, here I will be treading the waters now!

So here is snippet of my life:

I am in mid-twenties from a country in South Asia but living in Canada now.  I have two MAs and underemployed. One husband. No kids (yet). My family lives back home. My husband works in West Africa.

I love to read, to write and of course to cook! I hope to share some recipes and pictures soon! I have lived in Southern and Western Africa and the US. I try to think of myself a global citizen.  But my husband jokingly calls me a even more confused ABCD (American Born Confused Desi) since I don’t fit in anywhere. This years marks the tenth anniversary of me being an expat. In a sense, I am writing to make sense of my identity, my national ties and my citizenship too.

With the promise to write often, good night world!