The purpose of this blog is to study food in all it’s aspects, from nutrition, cooking techniques, meal prep, ingredients, and anything else food related that comes to mind.
I really started to getting interested in cooking about ten years ago when I was watching Chopped. You know, it’s that show that pits four chefs against each other and gives them ingredients they have to use to make a dish. Usually they are told to make one particular ingredient the “star” of the dish.
I was fascinated.
How do they do that? And why do they say things like, “I thought this dish needed more acid, so I added vinegar?” Or a judge would say, “This dish is not properly seasoned.” It seemed like they were talking a language with which I was not familiar.
Oh, I could already cook, if you count a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. I could grill a mean steak and some basic veggies. I could also follow a recipe and make it turn out reasonably well, but if I wanted to modify it in some way it would be a disaster.
And then there’s shopping. I found myself going to the grocery store with a long list of ingredients, knowing that this jar of coriander would only be used this once, unless another recipe called for it, because I knew nothing of the spice other than to measure it according to what map I was following. On the way, I would see some veggie that was in season and wonder if I should look up a recipe for THAT instead of what I had planned. Yeah, I was a bit mental about it.
I realized that I wanted to be able to walk in the grocery store without a recipe, see what’s in season, and decide what to cook without looking up instructions from someone else. I wanted to be able to open my fridge and my pantry and create a meal with what I already have without going to the store. In short, I wanted to know how to cook.
That started me on my journey, and that journey is what I want to share with you.
The purpose of this blog is to study food in all it’s aspects, from recipes to nutrition, cooking techniques, meal prep, ingredients, and anything else food related that comes to mind.
So you know, I’m a voracious reader and consumer of YouTube videos. I’ll share and link some of the most helpful and perhaps introduce you to YouTubers you didn’t know existed. Also, I have to give lots of credit to two books in particular and one Netflix series that were a big influence: “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” by Samine Nosrat, “Ingredienti: Marcella’s Guide to the Market.” by Marcella Hazan, and the Netflix series “Cooked” produced my Michael Pollan, the book version is shown below.
I hope you enjoy!
Phil
