When my family lived in Mexico, I began to understand that fluency in language is measured in confidence, not memorization.
You see, I studied Spanish for many years in school and always felt a deep frustration with my inability to really get the language. My frustration led me to a lack of confidence that kept me from trying. It wasn’t until Mexico that I was forced to stumble around in this tongue. My confidence level grew not so much from my ability to speak perfectly, but my willingness to make errors as I learned and do it all a little imperfectly.
Buckwheat, carrots cooked with parsnips, black garbanzos with kale and parsley
We talk about food fluency in our house a lot. It means learning the fundamentals of the types of foods, categorizing them (with help from Ayurveda’s six tastes) and understanding the goal is not so much delivering a picture-perfect plate of food but a nourishing, balanced meal.
All the time I spent listening to fake conversations between Maria and Jose in the language lab is the equivalent of investing in fancy cookbooks but getting takeout every night. It’s a failure to launch problem.
Cooking every day isn’t so much about being a master chef, but learning how to play within a container. Just like fluency in a language, it requires immersion and a willingness to screw some things up.
