Recipes bring together each ingredient together and make them greater than the sum of the parts. It gives food a story, and a soul.
Our lives are defined by food. The highs and lows of our lives are celebrated and comforted with food. You connect with family and friends through the sharing of food. Our most visceral memories are often evoked with food. You can learn about a new culture through the food. And increasingly, you determine the outcome of your health by the food you consume.
Before my celiac (Gluten-Free for life) diagnosis, food was my life.
I ate my way across parts of Asia, Europe, Middle East and Americas. My curiosity led me to travel and discover people and cultures through food. The pickled and beautiful unique flavors of new Nordic in Copenhagen. The joyous fulfillment of minced pork over rice in Keelung. The sweet and spicy delight of mostarda in Cremona. Real paella cooked over fire with snails, not shrimp, in Valencia. The liveliness of dishes with zataar, bright and exciting like Amman itself. The delight of shrimp and grits, buttery and spicy in Charleston.
What fascinated me was the story behind every dish, every ingredient, and every person.
I brought home stories and cookbooks from my travels to cook up for friends and family, and we’d gather and create new stories.
A few years ago, I was diagnosed with celiac two days before a major surgery. At that point in time, I had so many health problems that celiac was the least of my worries. As I healed and gradually learned more about nutritional balance, and the health impacts of food - both from a Western medicine and Eastern medicine perspective, I gradually understood that a lot of the health problems came from both celiac, and our modern food habits.
After pouring hundreds, if not thousands of hours of research into nutrition, food properties, scientific literature, and recipes around the world, I approach food from the perspective that healthy eating is not one extreme or another - but balanced eating that brings the best nutrition and flavors into your dishes.
What I present through my recipes is the cumulation of that knowledge along with a desire to eat well, be adventurous with food, while simplifying things for the modern, busy lifestyle. And it is absolutely a cumulation of my passion and love for the food that connects us as people.
These simple recipes weave together many threads and stories from my journey. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.