Growth Mindset

Did somebody say Cajun? image source

Hello again, denizens of the internet. Today I will be talking about the growth mindset. I have never heard of Carol Dweck before this, but I did hear about the Angela Duckworth "grit" research through my mom I think. Personally, I can't stand TED talks but she's always sending me them so that's how I heard about the "grit" study which is pretty similar, just about having perseverance really. 

Unfortunately, I don't really apply this to my schoolwork, I just study as much as I can to get the grade because that's what goes on my resume and transcript. It's not like I really want to be a master of Fourier transforms or Butterworth filters, I just want to get an "A". But outside of school I apply this mindset unconsciously. Let me give an example. 

A long time ago (like 8 years ago) I went to this Cajun restaurant with my dad and I ordered chicken and sausage gumbo, never having anything like it before. I had to wait for an hour and a half for my food and I was starving when I got it. The wait was so long they gave me a second bowl for free. It was the best thing I had ever tasted in my life. The restaurant shut down soon after but not before it imprinted a love for Gumbo on my soul. Ever since then I've been trying to make gumbo that rivals the flavor of that Cajun kitchen. It has been an uphill battle lasting many years, but I'm finally able to make gumbo that scratches my itch.

One might think: "hey, how hard can soup be?", but good gumbo has a lot of subtleties. Should I make the roux in a cast-iron or nonstick pan? How hot do I keep the burner? How often do I stir? Should I use butter or oil? Sauteeing the mirepoix before adding it to the crockpot. Browning the sausage and letting it all sweat before adding broth. What seasonings to use and how much? Marinating the chicken beforehand in stock and salt and adding it only in the last two hours of cooking. The balance between sweetness, heat, and salt and the importance of adding acid to break up the large amounts of fat in the soup that prevent the flavor from interacting with your taste buds. I've found that a little Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and lemon juice goes a long way in making a complex-but-balanced gumbo flavor profile, in addition to giving the soup a beautiful translucent reddish-brown color. 

All of this was learned through trial-and-error and would never have been accomplished if I just decided to stop making gumbo. Which I probably would have if my desire for Cajun cuisine was any weaker. My first dozen tries were straight-up nasty. 

I mostly just talked about gumbo but I hope that it made it obvious that I have a decent understanding of the growth mindset. Until next time, I'm NitroDubbz.

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