An Infant Daughter Who Is Fascinated with Cooking

choi

Parul Sehgal, 'You Have Made Dinner Only Twice;' For a novice cook the pleasure of catering to others. New York Times, Nov 15, 2017 (in the weekly Food section).
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/ ... new-york-times.html

Quote:

(a) "WHEN I WAS A SMALL GIRL, I wanted to grow up and become a Bachelor.

"I had a horror of the domestic, and holidays in particular, which were like ordinary days but worse. The women worked so much harder, and somehow the mendid even less. That old story.

"If you had any sense, you'd opt out, I thought, and as early as possible. No one would stick you in a kitchen if you never learned what to do there.

(b) "You marry, and find yourself weirdly invested in the health of your husband's sour-dough starter. Your baby turns out to be a trencherwoman, happiest among the sounds and smells of the kitchen. Her first words are apple and blueberry. Her favorite food is Okra. She claps her hands when a pot on the stove breaks into a boil, and whistles along with the kettle.

(c) "PARUL SEGHAL is a book critic at the New York Times.

My comment:
(a)
(i) There is no need to read the rest. I thought the description of the daughter was interesting.
(ii) The first sentence stopped me in the tract. The word “bachelor” since ancient time means a man. I am clueless why she chooses it, rather than a bachelorette.
(iii) Of course she got married and enjoys cooking. She did not explain.

(b)
(i) sourdough
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sourdough

Lactobacilli created lactic acid, which accounted for the sourness of the bread.
(ii) domestic (n): "a servant hired to work for a household  <Her grandmother worked as a domestic>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/domestic
(iii)
(A) trencherman (n): "a hearty eater"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trencherman

Neither it or www.oxforddictionaries.com shows etymology or explains why.

The Wiktionary for this word says in the etymology: trencher + man. Click "trencher," and one of the three definitions is "(archaic) a long plate on which food is served and/or cut."
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trencher

rencher (tableware)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trencher_(tableware)
(top photo)

(c) The essay in print carries a photo of young Indian woman. The essay is not found in the www.nytimes.com, but another online report carries a different photo of hers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/ ... new-york-times.html

(d) The Indian (Panjab) surname Sehgal: "Hindu (Khatri) and Sikh name of unexplained origin, based on the name of a clan in the Khatri community."
(i) Punjab, India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab,_India
(a state)
(ii) Khatri
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khatri
(a caste)