From Ingredients to Laughter: Making Brigadeiro on Zoom
Burçin is 17 years old and in her second year at HGS from Turkey.
When I first saw the event announcement saying, “Bring a friend or a family member and let’s make Brigadeiro together,” I was genuinely excited. In my everyday life, I already love cooking with my family and friends, chatting, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company while preparing food. I also enjoy making desserts for the people I love. So, seeing all of these things come together in one event made it especially fun and meaningful for me.
Cooking Together Across the Globe
Last week, I attended this event together with a close friend of mine, and we made Brigadeiro together! It was such a delicious Brazilian/Latin American dessert. During the event, Ms. Andreia guided us through the cooking session. The session with her was incredibly enjoyable. She shared stories about when, how, and for whom this dessert is made in her family, as well as sweet memories involving her niece. While listening to her stories, we also had the chance to get to know each other better. Ms. Kim, who made the dessert along with us, and Ms. Rukayat, who joined our conversations and shared laughs with us, were also part of the session.
A True Community Experience
Cooking together with everyone was truly so much fun. We had people in Brazil, USA, Greece, Turkey and Colombia all attending. There were almost no silent moments at all! I am someone who loves talking, and I also love cooking, so when these two things come together with people who share the same energy, it becomes an incredibly enjoyable experience.
When Challenges Turn into Laughter
Since some ingredients are difficult to find in our country (such as condensed milk), we had to use alternatives, and that’s where things became a bit more challenging. But honestly, that made the experience even more fun! Ms. Andreia told us that she once made this dessert using regular milk and sugar instead of condensed milk, which took a very long time as well. She truly understood our situation and supported us with patience and humor, encouraging us not to give up. Small problems quickly turned into very funny moments.
More Than Just Cooking
Because of the ingredient differences, our cooking process took longer, but the others waited for us patiently and supportively. While waiting, we all talked about desserts from our own cultures and shared suggestions for what we could make in future cooking sessions. In that sense, we actually did much more than just cooking during this event we socialized, shared cultures, got to know each other better, tried new flavors, and most importantly, learned to keep trying patiently without losing hope, while also remembering to enjoy the process no matter the outcome.
The Sweetest Finale
When the cooking process was finally complete, after a long wait, we ended up with beautiful brigadeiros decorated in different ways. From the smell while cooking, it was already impossible not to imagine how delicious they would be but the taste was even better than I expected! I am sure I will be making this recipe much more often in the future. I truly believe that without my wonderful instructors and friends accompanying me throughout this process, the dessert would not have tasted this good. Everyone’s results turned out great, and we all enjoyed eating our desserts together after the session.
This is how the event went for me. Lastly, I hope we can have many more cooking events together. I would like to thank everyone who participated and created such a fun and warm environment for us. I am very much looking forward to the next sessions!