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Naedine C. Simeon

Mr. Jose A. Cruz, Jr.

EN110-07

26 October 2021

Essay Assignment #2

Life Is What You Bake of It

Food is a universal form of love that can bring otherwise incompatible groups of people

together to appreciate fulfilling tastes and textures. Cooking is a skill and a talent that many

people possess. Unfortunately for me, I am not talented at cooking and lack the confidence to

create dishes that could be considered amazing. Despite three years being an active member in

the ProStart Program in high school, I was still not able to cook as well as my peers. Due to an

incident when I was younger, I avoided cooking until I began taking culinary classes at Guam

Community College (GCC). However, through years of practice and patience, I realized that my

true talent is baking and creating delicious pastries.

“Naedine,” my mom called, “try cooking the Spam on the stove.” As a seven-year-old

child, the thought of a burning stove was intimidating, but my curiosity was stronger than my

fear. I also felt like there was a point that I needed to make. Even if I was a small girl with no

experience touching a stove except turning it on for my mom when she asked me to, I wanted to

show my whole family that I could cook. I grabbed the metal spatula sitting on the countertop

and started pushing Spam around in the giant wok. The sound of cooked meat in sputtering oil

was uncomfortably loud in my tiny ears. However, all I could think about, amongst the
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mouthwatering smell of salty Spam and the constant cracking and popping of oil, was that I was

one step closer to gaining basic life skills and becoming an adult.

Then, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on the skin of my arm. I yelped and jumped back

slightly in shock at the sudden sensation. I could see dots of glistening oil adorning my arm as if

they were dazzling jewels, but they were far from pretty gems and sparkling crystals that I would

have loved to wear as a young child. Instead of bright jewelry, they were a hot and greasy

representation of sudden pain. I quickly handed the spatula to my mom, wiped my arm on my

shirt, and backed away from the stove. My mom laughed and finished cooking the rest of the

Spam for my siblings and I. I sat at the kitchen table feeling absolutely disappointed with what I

had experienced from attempting to cook a simple meat. Seven-year-old me made a bitter

conclusion after that fateful moment. A sizzling fire, some hot vegetable oil, a few slices of pink

lunch meat that came from a tin can—these were all the necessary ingredients to make me realize

how much I hated cooking.

After that incident, I was not confident with a stove. Even as I grew older, the most

complex dish that I ever made using fire was a grilled cheese sandwich. I was so scared of

getting burned that I would keep my distance whenever my mom was cooking in the kitchen. To

me, hot oil sounded like a cackling witch just waiting to throw an agonizing potion my way.

Cooking was not something I was good at and it was not a skill that I wanted to expand on. But

since I was terrified of cooking, it made me wonder how else I would be able to get nutrients and

sustain myself through food. There was only one safe choice left for me—the multifunctional

oven.
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Although the process of cooking seemed impossible for me to enjoy, I found myself

engrossed in YouTube videos about baking. Ever since I was a child, I spent my free time

browsing through videos of different pastries and baking recipes. The first dessert that I baked

were Nutella cookies when I was eleven years old. My first trial with the recipe went horribly

wrong and I ended up with disks of brown clay. Nonetheless, I did not give up like I gave up on

the Spam. The smell of warm Nutella wafting through my kitchen was tantalizing, but the taste

of homemade cookies was absolutely rewarding, especially for a child who thought that creating

food would never be in their future. I ended up with delicious chocolate hazelnut cookies that my

family and friends loved. The best part of baking was that there was no hot oil involved.

As years passed, baking became a hobby of mine that I indulged in almost every

weekend. My time was spent watching videos and reading recipes that I could possibly try out.

Being able to place ingredients in an oven and wait for mouthwatering results was incredibly

satisfying to me. High school was when I was actually able to put my skills to the test. When I

joined the ProStart Program as a teenager, I decided that a possible career for me would be a

pastry chef. I was not exceptionally skilled at searing a perfect steak or making an appetizing

tomato sauce like my classmates. However, the skills that I lacked were overshadowed by my

natural talent at baking and other elements of pastries. While my peers were struggling with

kneading beignet dough, I was handling the dough as if my fingers were made for it. My

classmates struggled with ideas for cakes, but a plethora of possibilities and recipes flooded my

mind as soon as my instructor mentioned the idea. Almost everyone around me seemed to

struggle with a chocolate mousse, but I was ecstatic to be the person making it for our events. In
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all my internship opportunities, my first choice was always the pastry department because I knew

that this was the type of environment I could truly thrive in.

Currently, I am finishing up my degree in culinary arts. Because of years of experience, I

am able to enjoy my job in a bakery where my talent grows naturally. At home, I bake for the

people that I love and, most importantly, for myself. Since I took a liking towards French pastries

and baking, I directed my focus towards cream puffs, puff pastries, and macarons. Macarons can

be considered one of the most difficult desserts to make because factors such as the weather and

a poorly prepared merengue can make a drastic difference in the results. Even if macarons can be

difficult to make, I have come to love the process. As I have made macarons multiple times with

no issues, macarons have become my favorite dessert to bake. When I first started baking, I

never thought that I would possess the skills to make one of the most delicate and laborious

cookies, but as a passionate baker and pastry enthusiast that has practiced for years, I am proud

to say that I am talented in what I do.

I unashamedly admit that I can not cook amazing meals or plate an aesthetically pleasing

dish. Sometimes when I am cooking, the sound of sizzling oil can make me nervous. Even if

cooking still has a negative effect on me, I have complete confidence in my baking skills and

know that I am able to create heavenly food using the skills that I honed through my personal

experiences and with the help of my instructors along the way. My abilities prove that I was born

to be surrounded by wonderful pastries and become a talented baker. All in all, baking has taught

me that I can still share my passion with others despite my struggles and the challenges that I had

to go through.