In the kitchen, I love my whisks. For me, they symbolize baking---the last whisking together of dry ingredients before adding to the whipped portion.
They are also used for one of my favorite cooking techniques: tempering.
In cooking, to temper is to add a bit of the hot ingredients to the cold to bring them both together into an amalgamation. A happy co-mingling of temperatures. When eggs are tempered correctly, the resultant mix is thick and glossy and ready for the next step. When not tempered correctly, they form a scrambled-egg-like mess.
Tempering has always held a magical quality for me----like folding in egg whites, or emulsifying sauces. I feel like a professional when I temper ingredients. Alchemy, is that what it is?
But only recently did I realize that temperance is important even outside of the kitchen. Especially for me.
For example, I try to temper my passions with a dollop of realism; my obsessions and compulsions with my dull chores; my selfish traits with an awareness and compassion for others; my generosity and flexibility with self preservation; my impulsiveness with contemplation; hurt with forgiveness.
I am not always successful, however, and sometimes hours of my life slip into one of these extremes and I wind up with a scrambled mess; sometimes beyond repair. I did not learn to cook from one source and I often learned through my mistakes, or my avoidance of them (another trait to temper). Sometimes my messes taste good enough to eat, but only through one slow swallow of contrition and humility at a time.
I find the word 'temper' interesting-----the disparity of meaning. English is such a confusing language. On one hand is temper: "to dilute, qualify;" there is temper: "a suitable proportion or balance of qualities;" or "to anneal or toughen by a process of gradually heating and cooling;" and probably the most well known of all the tempers: "heat of mind or emotion--- proneness to anger;" yet even that well-known definition is tempered with yet another: "calmness of mind---composure."
In life, it is beneficial to be flexible----dare I say of temperate mind? To splash a little self-awareness and compassion into the routine of day-to-day living?
It is also fortunate to know how to temper in the kitchen, for if you do, a whole world of luxurious tastes await you----sauces, custards, even homemade ice cream----as long as they're tempered with a healthy lifestyle! :-)
