The Skeena
Emilia Moulechkova seems like the type of person who turns lemons into lemonade. The Terrace local has been spending the past year of this pandemic learning how to make delicious dishes that she shares virtually with her friends and family.
“One of the benefits to staying at home right now, is having more time in the kitchen. Whether it’s baking, recreating a favourite drink, or preparing a special meal, in these uncertain times, the act of cooking can feel therapeutic,” she writes on the Northern Health website. “Most of all, I love being able to share this experience with the people I care about.”
She says that her overall philosophy on healthy eating can be summarized by this Ellyn Satter quote: “When the joy goes out of eating, nutrition suffers.”
Originally from the Lower Mainland, Moulechkova moved to Terrace six years ago. She is now a Registered Dietitian that works with local schools to promote healthy eating.
Moulechkova has been doing virtual cooking with her family for years. What this means in practice is she and other family members do video calls with each other that involve cooking and consuming meals. In June her and mom made matching birthday cakes.
“This past holiday season, a few friends and I decided we would do something similar for the holidays and host a virtual cooking club, where each of us took turns, teaching one another how to make dishes from our respective cultures,” she wrote.
One of the friends explained how to make traditional Portuguese food.
“I was especially excited to learn this. My partner’s dad is also Portuguese, but unfortunately, many of the family’s recipes were lost when his grandpa unexpectedly passed. We made Portuguese-style French chicken (aka Galinha à Francesa), and Portuguese chicken soup, or ‘canja,’” she wrote. “While it sounds fancy, the recipes were surprisingly simple and used ingredients that I already had at home. For example, the soup is prepared with rice, onions, chicken, lemon, and salt. It reminded me so much of a soup my mom made me when I was sick as a child: comforting, lemony, and delicious.”
Moulechkova says that while the food is the main activity, the real reason for doing virtual cooking is being able to spend time with people close to her–even if it’s over a screen at the moment.
“In times like these, we could all benefit from a little more connection, in whatever form that may come,” she explains.
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