Monday, October 29, 2007

The Return of Chefspiration!


I know it's been over a year since this blog has been active but I have decided to get back into it. Those who have been to my blog previously have already read this post...but I like it as a start to my blog. I will try to keep this updated daily and I will need as much encouragement and support through your comments left here. Any suggestions and criticism is most welcome as I will continuously try to improve on it. Also if you would like to see a writeup on anything in particular let me know! Thanks in advance for your support :)

It Starts....
You would probably think that someone who is writing a food blog and who is completely food obsessed grew up around kitchens and food enthusiasts. I, however, did not. Growing up in Indonesia we had cooks who cooked all our meals, and if it wasn't the cook it would be my mom in the kitchen. I did not even know how to cook till about 5 years ago when I was in college and moved into my own apartment. My options for food were bleak. It was either instant ramen noodles, cheap pizza with an almost plasticky cheese consistency, or... starve. When faced with such dire circumstances I decided it was time to learn how to cook. I started off easy, spaghetti with ragu tomato sauce, spaghetti with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, spaghetti with butter...I'm sure you see a pattern here...it was spaghetti in any possible way that required the least amount of cooking time. I did not like being in the kitchen! The very thought of it scared me. I was terrified at the possibility of poisoning or killing someone with my food because I had no clue how to handle it! But I once again got tired of the same meals and the lack of creativity. So it was time to learn something new, to venture out of my comfort zone. I was going to make a simple chicken breast fried in bread crumbs. Sure it sounded easy at the time, dip the chicken in egg and then roll it in bread crumbs and fry. It was the biggest kitchen disaster I ever faced, and whenever I think back to it now I laugh at all the ridiculously silly mistakes I made...but hey I couldn't help it..I was completely ignorant to the world of cooking!! Instead of telling you the whole story let me list all the mistakes I made...I'm sure this list will make you smile...maybe even laugh a little...now remember DON'T try this at home:

1. I was so terrified of bacteria(particularly salmonella) that when I took the chicken out of the package I put it in a bowl of warm water and I let it soak for 5-10mins to clean off.

2. I then cut all the fat off and then some meat that didn't look too pretty in the process until I was left with a few tiny strips of what I deemed to be edible.

3. I had no idea how long the meat needed to be fried and once again terrified of bacteria and poisoning/killing myself I cooked the tiny strips of chicken on high heat for HALF AN HOUR!!

Verdict: The chicken was completely disgusting and inedible!

The good thing that came out of it was my persistence in wanting to be able to give my boyfriend at the time a decent homecooked meal. So after many failed attempts I slowly became better at it. I was even inviting friends over for dinners where I would prepare everything from scratch. Soon enough what started out as a mere survival instinct became a passion almost borderline obsession. And now I want to take culinary courses and master some professional techniques. Until that dream becomes a reality I will be cooking meals to share with the blogging world, along with recipes, reviews of restaurants I've been to, and writing about all things food related. I hope you enjoy this site and any feedback will be much appreciated! I will try to keep it updated daily.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey there. Patty Dayrit (Manila) here. :)

hahaha! You're story is real cute and hilarious. Why don't you do this in Multiply.com instead? :). Just a suggetion.

You're story about fried chicken soo reminds me of my attempt in the past to cook something too. My family was vacationing in Malaysia and I was left at home (due to college) and was tired of instant noodles and canned goods. My (now EX) boyfriend was coming over and I wanted to feed him something. I attempted to cook the easiest thing in the philippin cookbook - adobo. Its just chicke and/or pork cooked in garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, pepper and thyme leaves. Easy as it should've been, it turned out to be a freaking disaster. It was too sour and the meat was over cooked! My ex came from a family of good cooks so just imagine the horrible expression on his face when he took his first bite. heheheh

Anonymous said...

it is great to see you up and running, cant wait for more stories and recipes..

Anonymous said...

Ra-Ta-Tou-Wee??!

Looking forward to seeing (and EAT-one day)your very own-Fushion masterpiece!!

Oh, Alex's pasta and sandwiches smell really good!!

Still hvn got chance to taste it though, hehe...

Anonymous said...

I remember those days! nothing but pasta and butter lol! ....and how your cooking has become encredible now! Im glad to see you doing this again! Lets see it continue on! Ship me some of that herb pasta you make! please!!!!

Mike said...

I can totally relate to your story... the only difference is that, I never moved past the spaghetti stage (except for an occasional meatloaf or lasagna). Funny thing is that before going to college my mom made me take a class in Jakarta. In an hour period i was supposed to learn how to cook rendang and all that good stuff. To this day I still never cooked that stuff, lol. Now I just leave it up to my GF to cook.

I will be coming over here for recipes every now and then. Hope you keep finding time to update your blog!

Anonymous said...

finally!!! alex is back to doing what she loves! anything & everything to do with good food! really interesting blog.. you should post more up... how bout some of your own cookings.. *grinz* like the meals you cooked up while i was staying at your place! yummy yummy..mmmm!!! yuppers, i've had the privilege of tasting this little chef's delish meals! keep it up!
when i get back to msia, you gotta cook me sumn good yeah! hehehe.. can't wait!!

Anonymous said...

Keep up your good work, it nice web just like you