Whether it is time spent with family, traveling, or some fantastic meal that changed my life, every great memory I have is always associated with the great food that came along with it.  Cooking food well is a life long journey that begins in the kitchen and has no ending.

     My earliest memory of cooking food well comes from my mother.  I come from a family of 7.  Mom was always into cooking well. She had hundreds of cookbooks and always introduced us to new cuisine.  We didn’t go out to restaurants or travel much, so when I was young, Mom provided all of my food culture. 

     When I was 9, Mom decided it was time for me to take a shot in the kitchen.  I could browse through her cookbooks or pick a favorite from the past.  She would take me to the market to buy the ingredients, and then guide me through the whole thing.  My first selection was a sandwich known as, “The Monte-Christo”.  At 9 years old, turkey and bacon on French toast with grape jelly was one of the greatest food concepts I could have imagined!  After putting all of my heart into preparing this meal, my reward was serving it to my family.

     As I got older and began to travel, every new flavor that I encountered embedded a new food memory that would change the way that I cook.  When I was 16, some friends and I drove to Baja and found this little fish taco stand.  The chef cooked battered and fried strips of fresh white fish dressed simply with shredded cabbage and a thin white sauce, topped with hot salsa.  That day I learned that cooking well comes from the heart and simple ingredients…This had a profound impact on how I would cook for my family.  

     On a train from Venice, we ordered a simple mozzarella and tomato dish with olive oil and a baguette.  I ‘d never been to an authentic Italian restaurant and this simple dish confirmed to me that less is often more.   I also learned, just by eating in Italy, how to make a real tomato sauce with little more than tomato, garlic, and olive oil.  How could I now go back to eating jarred store-bought sauce?

     In Amsterdam, I had my first Indonesian meal.  In Germany, I had a braised piece of beef that was the tenderest piece of meat I ever had.  In Jamaica it was steamed conch from a street vendor.  In New Orleans it was raw oysters.  At the sushi bar it was the taste, texture, and the intimacy with the chef that changed my life forever.

     Cooking food well takes me back to my childhood, it takes me back to places around the world I have visited, it brings me back to the people I cooked with, the people who cooked for me, and the people I love... But most of all it makes me feel enthusiastically alive! 

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