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Have you ever wondered how 2 people can cook the same meal, follow the same directions and come out with different tasting dishes...

One example from a page in my life...

I make a mean Spaghetti Bolognese. Well, I like to think so.  The kids always enjoy it too.  I had an ex who asked me to teach him how to make it. I showed him step by step. And more than once. Yet every time his came out tasting really different. Sweet. I struggled to eat it. It didn't make sense. Mine always has a heavy tomato taste. So again we'd go through the steps. And again it would come out sweet.  So I started questioning... "Did you add anything? Sugar? Chutney? Tomato Paste" Nope, was always the answer... So again I mentioned, but you should be adding sugar after the tomato paste... "Oh I don't add tomato paste"... Ok, but do you still add sugar then? "Nope".


Weird... the lack of tomato paste still shouldn't make it sweet!!

Spices? "Yes, the ones you showed me..."

To this day, I have no clue how mine comes out nice and soft, with a rich tomato taste, and his sweet.  My only conclusion (beside the fact that he probably lied to try keep me guessing), is that he cooked his onions differently (it took a while before he started cooking the onions first - until soft... He always added them at the end, which resulted in a very crunchy Bolognese sauce. And he cooked on very high heat.

By the way, I was always being reminded he was a great cook who had been working in kitchens for years. Yet I always had to "remind" him how to cook something... I even gave him the chance one day saying: If you were just the person serving food, and not the cook, I'll understand. Rather tell me now. Nope, he insisted he cooked the food.

On the other hand, I don't claim to be a Master Chef. I love cooking and been cooking for years. Experimenting along the way, but would by no means tell people I'm a professional... But I will say I cook some pretty mean - kick-ass - meals. The biggest reward to me: The kids wanting more or "mmm thanks mom, that was delicious".

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