culinary influences

i am not a professional chef. i might be one day, but not currently. however, the world is my classroom and i have been blessed with many wonderful teachers. growing up in southern california, i was surrounded by the ocean and the beach. which meant seafood and lots of it. this also means that every time i smell salt in the air i get homesick. you can take the girl away from the ocean, but you can't take the ocean out of the girl. salmon sashimi is one of my favorite meals and i will never turn down seafood or anything mexican or a burger from In-n-Out.

my mom was, and still is, an amazing chinese cook. i used to watch her in the kitchen as she furiously prepped, chopped, sauteed, steamed, seasoned, and plated dinner. that woman could wield a butcher knife like no other. she did the work of an entire kitchen staff on her own and i learned how to season food from her. she used to taste every sauce before it went into the pan and then after it had simmered with whatever meat was that evening's dinner. she would re- season if needed until it was to her liking.

then came my sophmore year at nyu. i went abroad that fall semester and spent a glorious four months in florence, italy, where i visited a new city every weekend. i ate my way through 7 countries and 17 different cities. italy is where i learned to love the early morning markets and how to make marinara sauce and how pizza is not supposed to be smothered in cheese. i learned how to pick apart what i was eating and recognize certain flavors, how to chop, mince, and chiffonade my herbs, and how a meal was meant to be enjoyed and savored, not just scarfed down.

paris was one of the many places i visited and i ate my weight in soup, brie, baguettes, and crepes. crepe stands in paris are as frequent as coffee stands in new york. i was only there for seven days, but those seven days were a mouthwatering, gastronomical delight. french onion soup still reminds me of fall in paris.

after i graduated and my husband and i got married, i started to cook. for real. not just helping my mom prep and getting grossed out by the raw meat. i had never actually cooked for myself before, preferring to eat out and explore new restaurants during my nyu years and then being the happy observer in my mom's kitchen, and it was a happy surprise for my husband when i made our first meal in our first apartment- egg friend rice. after that, i frequently watched ina garten, nigella lawson, giada de laurentiis, laura calder in "french food at home," and iron chef. i had actually grown up watching iron chef on the chinese cable station. my grandmother was a huge fan and we would sit there salivating over the dishes. then, at nyu, my roommates and i would watch and laugh at this magic kitchen that had everything in the world, including a bottle of 500 year old balsamic vinegar. who would need that? after each show, i would practice my knife skills and at the grocery store, i would buy different herbs and spices to try throughout the week. i learned how to refine my method of seasoning and the season each ingredient after it went into the pan. i learned how helpful a mise en place was and how essential it was to keep my blades honed and ready. i learned how to know when meat was fully cooked without having to cut into it and release the juices. i learned how to fillet and stuff a chicken breast. above all, i learned how to hone my senses so i could fully enjoy the art of cooking.

in the words of Auguste Gusteau from Ratatouille, "anyone can cook." even me.

until next post- maggie