Text and photos by AVERY HANNA
KITCHEN COOKING CLASSES VIA ZOOM SPICE UP QUARANTINE ROUTINES
O
SLICING AND DICING — My mom, Sonya Hanna, juliennes carrots and prepares other vegetables for Singapore noodles, while cooking class instructor Ashvee Kanwar gives directions over Zoom on the computer in the background. “With the lockdown, I was actually doing a lot more cooking for my family,” Kanwar says. “I wanted to share those family meals.”
36 JUNE 2021
IL CRACKLES and a spice-laden aroma sizzles to life as I flip small cubes of tofu in a pan. Behind me, my mom slices basil to top the dish we are preparing and laughs about how we almost ruined the meal at least three times. The rhythmic chopping of her knife and the sputtering of the frying pan are accompanied by chatter and instructions from the computer propped up at the corner of our counter — blending into a kitchen cacophony. Over Zoom, cooking class instructor Ashvee Kanwar has guided me and my mom, as well as our fellow cooking class participants, through preparing delicious vegetarian dishes from lemongrass tofu to pav bhaji. Hers is one of many online cooking classes that have popped up during the pandemic to satisfy people’s desire to diversify their dining options even with so many restaurants shut down. Ever since my mom signed us up for our first Nibble n’ Gobble cooking class in January to add something new to our quarantine routine, cooking Zooms have become something of a Sunday tradition. Each cooking class experience starts in a somewhat unexpected way: with a trip to the park. A small grassy lot in Mountain View serves as the distribution location where Kanwar sets up shop to pass out the goods needed for each week’s meal. The convenience of the pick up system allows for my family to indulge in ingredients
