The Frontal Lobe: Cooking Edition
I’ve been 25 for, roughly, seven months now.
There has always been buzz around this whole “frontal lobe” thing and its correlation to turning and being 25.
And I kid you not, when I turned 25: I got it.
It all started to make sense. I figured it out. I understood it. I cracked the code. Like I said—I got it.
(Pssst…I’m frickin’ jokin’)
There’s no figuring it (it, as defined by Oxford Dictionary, it = life) out. But there is getting sorta, kinda, and/or somewhat close. And when I turned 25, I felt I got a centimeter closer to whatever that means.
Life started to look a tad different to me and did start to make a lil’ more sense to me.
Per a (legit, academic) article from the National Library of Medicine titled Maturation of the adolescent brain, “It is well established that the brain undergoes a “rewiring” process that is not complete until approximately 25 years of age.”
I’ve been rewired!
And let me give you the ideal example as to why I am soooo boisterously sure of myself…
I, now, love to cook.
(Go ahead Momma, I give you permission to roll your eyes and tell me you knew this would happen!)
For yeaaaars, I hated to cook and was repulsed at the idea for quite some time. The thought of starting something from scratch or trying to cook something that would be both tasteful and plated well made morph into a 19-year-old college boy who only ate cold pizza and frozen Jimmy Dean sausage biscuits (sorry babe).
But as of April 15th, 2024, it is (seriously) one of my favorite things to do these days!
In all honesty, this epiphany didn’t necessarily happen as soon as I turned 25. I felt myself start to dip my toe into the idea and process of cooking when I was 23 and had just moved to New York City. I quickly discovered that I couldn’t survive on my comfort meal of a (burnt) grilled cheese and Campbell’s chicken noodle soup forever. And I did what all chronically online 20-somethings do at one point or another…
I got a HelloFresh subscription.
And I owe a lot of my ability to cook from HelloFresh (and some YouTubers, more on that later).
My sister, Emerald, would completely agree with this following statement: I genuinely had no fckn idea what I was doing when I was standing in front of a stove. For example, if I wanted to make a dish thicker or creamier, it wouldn’t come to me to add a touch of either heavy cream or flour. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I would’ve suggested adding fresh peanut butter before heavy cream or flour. Nothing clicked! And that is because I didn’t understand the basics.
And, thankfully to my HelloFresh subscription, I was able to follow instructions and wrap my head around the cooking process, what ingredients went where, and why they might (or might not) go with a certain dish.
Things were starting to click, but just because they were clicking didn’t mean I loved it. But I was no longer completely repulsed by it, which was progress in my book.
Months pass, and I start realizing that New York not only has phenomenal cuisine, but New York has expensive cuisine that I cannot afford. So I start to think about the whole, “well… maybe I can make this for cheaper at home?” mantra and gave it a shot.
My first “meal meal” that I tried to whip together was a Steak au poivre (aka pepper steak) where I would cook a filet mignon with a peppercorn crust topped with a creamy sauce. This recipe was inspired by a delicious (but pricey AF) steak we had at Quality Bistro in New York City.
Like I said, I just had to give it a shot!
With much preparation and many Joshua Weismann YouTube videos later, it is safe to say that I absolutely nailed it.
I threw my own self off with how fantastic this filet was. And you know the recipe for my success?
5 cups of following step-by-step directions
45 hours of watching someone else do it on YouTube / TikTok
At least 2 hours of light research
10 gallons of sweet, sweet patience
A fully developed frontal lobe
Since this development, I’ve cooked many recipes. Cacio e Peppe, Mango Salsa Mahi-Mahi, Vodka pasta, honey brussel sprouts, and the list goes on!
When I’m feeling stressed or feeling not-very-creative, I really enjoy whipping up a fun dish. It’s really exciting to see how delicious you can actually make your own food at home! And I never thought I’d say that.
So much of it is following directions and patience. I used to want a full blown 5-star meal whipped up in 15 minutes. And let me tell you, that’s simply not possible (and that’s okay!) As they say, all good things come with time.
To end this piece, I’m going to leave you with a fantastic quote from Joshua Weissman that I think is absolutely terrific.
“There are a lot of things in life you can't control, but the food you cook is one of the few things you can, and this gives you a real sense of power over a huge aspect of your life.”
- Joshua Weissman, from An Unapologetic Cookbook
Happy cooking!
Best,
Jade