WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY ?
and acceptance . I ’ ve learned that the best Chicken Katsu recipe in Louisville was created by accident in my friend ’ s kitchen and that creating the perfect boiled ramen egg is an artform . Most of all , I ’ ve learned that I have wonderful people in my life that I ’ m lucky to bond with through cooking .
Food also gives me a way to connect to my loved ones . My father and I cooked together all the time growing up . He called me his sous chef and taught me how to marinade my salmon and edit my recipes . When I was 14 , he and his friends opened a pizza restaurant and shared their food with the J-Town community . The pizza restaurant gave me my first job as a waitress and my first two-day recipe . Good dough takes careful cultivation and an overnight rise to get the aeration just right . The cheese is a special combination that melts right into that perfectly aerated dough at 500 degrees before being covered in homemade tomato sauce . It ’ s labor intensive and precise and it ’ s one of my favorite ways that my father says , “ I love you ” long after the restaurant has closed . Sometimes , it ’ s how I say “ I love you ” too .
When I cook at the end of a long day , I heal myself of all the hurt and worry that I carry . Bad days can ’ t seep into my onions , and they never spoil the garnish in my fridge . The firehose has never once entered my kitchen , but do you know what has ? Creativity , joy and affection - unspoken and yet understood - are my cooking companions . After a long day of learning about all the things that go wrong , and the other things that could help , food is my medicine .
BONUS : A MEDICAL STUDENT ’ S KITCHEN MUST HAVES
» Miso for miso soup » Ginger and garlic ( a perfect base for any dish )
» A sourdough starter named something silly ( Mine is Frankenstein )
» Homemade pickled red onion , sliced thin
» Kitchen scraps frozen in a bag for homemade veggie broth you ’ re totally going to make someday
» Lentils and rice , bought in bulk » A spice cabinet that is way too full
This essay was a submission to the 2023 Richard Spear , MD , Memorial Essay Contest .
Danielle Graves is a third-year medical student at the University of Louisville School of Medicine .
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