MasterChef - The Lockdown Hobby

Pav Bhaji, Pastries, Matka Kulfi, Jalebi, Ice Cream and Nachos with extra cheese! All these cravings did not help the year of 2019 to smoothly pass by. With the birth of COVID 19, the world was forced to undergo a lockdown as various sectors came to a standstill. This sudden void in the lives of people was met with anxiety and a sense of aimlessness as the current lifestyle never gave them the opportunity to have this amount of free time in a confined space.

India, as a country is known for its rich variety of eateries (street food and restaurants) that has cultivated through the diverse cultures present. Due to the lockdown, the hospitality industry too came to a halt and for all those people who loved to either go out and eat or order in felt their absence the most. I am pretty sure that our favorites i.e. Zomato and Swiggy were thought of frequently.

Image 1: arrangement and presentation of home-made Pav Bhaji

In order to keep oneself occupied, people started indulging in recreation activities and one of the most wide spread picked up hobbies was cooking. Social media platforms like Instagram and Youtube helped the new "master chefs" gain positivity and confidence as they posted snaps and stories of their newly learnt culinary skills. This also gave rise to many culinary based content creators like Shivesh Bhatia, Chef Ranveer Brar, Chef Parth Bajaj, etc. who brought out gourmet easy to follow recipes specific to the pandemic.

To some, the kitchen suddenly becomes a place to give birth to one's creativity while some found the whole process of cooking therapeutic. People started paying attention to what they were consuming and focused on the health benefits attached to them (ingredients).

For a person who loves to only eat, I too was bitten by the MasterChef bug and was no exception to this lockdown hobby, as evidently presented in the image above. Chop chop!