I learnt early on in life that it is only a bad carpenter who blames his tools. In Tamil, there is a horrible equivalent: ஆட தெரியாத தேவடியா மேடை சரியில்ல என்று சொன்னாளாம் Horrible because, forget it; I want to keep going with my main point here.
So, yes, bad carpenters and tools.
A couple of years ago, it seemed like a third of my neighborhood was going through home improvement. There were workers and craftsmen hammering and cutting and doing everything that I cannot even dream of doing. In most homes, the kitchens were being remodeled.
One neighbor felt so good about their brand new kitchen that they even invited a few others to take a look at it. Of course, I did not go there--I am not for making friends ;)
At what turned out to be the last ever neighborhood summer party--this was the year before the trump candidacy summer--the husband in the fancy remodeled kitchen home joked that his wife practically never uses the kitchen. To which she responded with a cold stare.
My grandmothers and aunts and mother made divine foods even in the most basic kitchens. During most of my childhood, my grandmother cooked only with firewood and charcoal. Gas came much later, when I was a college student.
The other day, my parents, my sister, and I listed all the fuel sources my mother used when we were kids: Charcoal, "leco," hot-plate (electricity,) kerosene, and--finally--gas. Of course, no blenders or food-processors in the kitchen.
In contrast, now all of us have fancy gadgets in our kitchens. But, the foods and snacks and sweets that we prepare mostly suck, and that is if we ever put them to use in the first place!
What a delightful contrast to all the fancy kitchens is this story about the "king of chicken legs."
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