Cooking With Flair In A Wheelchair
Editors Note: This is the first in a monthly series chronicaling the adventures of Patti and Ralph in the kitchen.
I have no business writing about cooking. Eating, maybe, but that?s another story. But I am trying to take a page from my husband’s book. He likes to cook.
When he has free time on the weekends, he actually will turn on the Food Network. Cooking shows catch his eye. That is how he has taught himself to cook as well as he does. And I get to sample every experiment. So far, he has not failed.
He uses words like roux and reduction on a regular basis.
To tease him, when he starts talking in a culinary way, I will throw back retorts like “reduce this.” Or, my favorite, “I’ll give you a reduction.”
But what makes my husband’s culinary wizardry special is the fact he uses a wheelchair. He is a paraplegic. So his competent kitchen work puts me to shame.
Late last year we had our kitchen made accessible for him. The counters and sink were lowered and the dishwasher was raised up into a cabinet. The freezer is at the bottom of the refrigerator, which is handy for him.
To those uninitiated in the world of physical disability, this may not sound like much. But to Ralph, and our whole family, the transformation is huge.
He can chop, slice and dice at the counter, because there is a cutout underneath for him to slide the wheelchair under. He can cook at the countertop range, because there is another cutout there for him to slide under.
He needs a bit of help boiling large amounts of water for pasta, but that is where I or one of our teen-agers comes in handy.
I call myself his “sous chef” as I scurry around looking for herbs and spices or retrieve glass cutting boards or heavy ceramic casserole dishes for him. When I met him more than 20 years ago his specialty was chili, followed by spaghetti sauce. I have learned how to make both by osmosis.
He makes mostly main dishes: meat, seafood, pasta, potatoes, rice, vegetables. He has a few appetizer specialties. In the summer, bruschetta is a favorite, as is grilled Portuguese bread. Yum.
He has a bread maker and makes a mean caraway seed rye.
Ralph isn’t afraid to take a risk. After all, he married me, didn’t he?
[…] Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in Fit Fare’s monthly series following Patti and Ralph in their kitchen adventures. If you missed the first installment, click here to check it out. […]