I spent thirty years not cooking. Microwave meals, takeout, sandwiches, whatever kept me fed with zero effort. Then I moved to Uruguay and everything changed. Not because I discovered some passion for gastronomy ( I didn't ), but because ordering delivery every night is expensive and the local takeout scene is not exactly London or Milan.
So I learned. Badly at first. Then less badly. Now I have a setup that works and I actually enjoy it. Here is what stuck.
The Pan
One cast iron pan. That is it. I tried the non-stick game, they all die in six months. I tried stainless steel, everything stuck. Cast iron just works if you treat it right, and treating it right means not washing it with soap and not letting it sit wet. Which is exactly the kind of lazy maintenance I excel at.
I use it for everything. Steak, eggs, vegetables, the occasional fish that I probably should not cook in cast iron but do anyway. A twenty-dollar pan that outlasts everything else in the kitchen.
The Method ( Or Lack Of )
I do not follow recipes. Not because I am some kitchen rebel, but because recipes require planning and planning requires caring more than I do on a Tuesday. Instead I follow a pattern:
1. Heat the pan
2. Oil or butter
3. Protein first ( chicken, beef, eggs, whatever )
4. Vegetables on top or beside
5. Salt, pepper, whatever spice jar I grabbed
6. Eat it
That is it. That is the whole method. The Uruguayan supermarkets help because the produce is cheap and actually tastes like something. Tomatoes that taste like tomatoes. Onions that make you cry properly, not those sad papery ones from UK supermarkets.
What I Actually Eat
Rotation of about six meals that I have dialed in:
• Chicken thighs with whatever vegetable is in season ( cheapest protein in Uruguay, and the flavor is miles better than breast )
• Pasta with garlic, oil, and parmesan ( I am Italian, this is in the DNA, I refuse to feel bad about it )
• Scrambled eggs with chorizo ( Uruguayan chorizo is genuinely incredible, I was not ready )
• Milanese with salad ( when I want to feel like I made an effort, which is rare )
• Rice and beans ( when the budget says no to meat )
• Asado on weekends ( but that is not cooking, that is fire management, and it deserves its own post )
Six meals. That is my entire repertoire and I am fine with it. Variety is overrated when the six meals are all genuinely good.
What I Stopped Doing
• Buying kitchen gadgets ( one pan, one knife, one cutting board, done )
• Following recipes to the gram ( close enough is close enough )
• Trying to make things look nice ( taste first, Instagram never )
• Using more than two pans per meal ( if it needs three pans, it needs to be ordered in )
• Meal prepping on Sunday ( I cook when I am hungry, not when a schedule says to )
The Grocery Run
The feria ( outdoor market ) is where I get most of my vegetables. Cheaper than the supermarket, fresher, and the vendors actually know what is in season. I go Saturday morning, grab whatever looks good, and figure out what to make with it later. That is the whole system. No list, no plan, just show up and buy the thing that looks like it wants to be eaten.
Meat comes from the carnicería. Chicken thighs are stupid cheap here. Beef is also reasonable, especially the cuts nobody writes blog posts about ( entraña, vacío, azada ). You do not need wagyu when the local stuff is already good.
The total grocery bill for a week of eating well is about 2,500 to 3,500 pesos. That is roughly 60 to 85 USD. Try doing that in London.
Conclusion
I cook now because I have to and because it turns out I do not hate it. The setup is minimal on purpose. One pan, six meals, zero recipes. It works because good ingredients do most of the work and Uruguay has no shortage of those.
If you are moving somewhere new and worried about cooking, do not overthink it. Buy a cast iron pan, learn three things, and add more when you get bored. That is the whole secret.