soup and creativity

today i made soup.

my mum makes potato soup often, and my family is quite fond of it, especially dad. mum's potato soup is the pinnacle of all her dinner masterpieces. her soup is different every time, depending on how she slices the potatoes, how much she blends the stuff, and what other vegetables she has on hand to add.

the soup i made today turned out nothing like mum's potato soup.

as often as she makes this soup, i've never watched how she does it. a few basic ideas have seeped into my mind over the years. potatoes, boiled ... bullion cubes ... the blender ... is there milk in it? i think there usually is. but how much? and when does she add it? hrm.

but then i've never wanted to be just like my mother. no indeed. so it's good that i don't know quite how she makes her soup. it leaves me free to do it my own way. to make it up as i go along.

making things up as you go along is the most fun way to do anything, especially cooking. don't let anyone tell you what to do.

and making things up as you go along requires a nice mix of ignorance and basic knowledge. i've boiled potatoes plenty of times. not so much experience with the bullion cubes, or the right proportions of celery or onions, but that's okay. i didn't measure anything. i just threw a bunch of vegetables in a pot. i sauteed the onions and garlic, even though i'm pretty sure mum never does it that way. it turned out just peachy. the little siblings deigned to eat the stuff, with cheese on top.

for any degree of originality or creativity, there must be a measure of ignorance. stuff we didn't know before but come to know. stuff that wasn't there before but is born through our efforts. the soup i made today will never be made again. there is no recipe. there is no formula.

i wish i could do everything that way. the way i cook.