ABOUT MY NOMS.

I cook because I have a love affair with food.

The best way to have good food is to make it yourself. All you need is a little bit of know-how, a dash of go-get-‘em and a mind full of ideas. Although many of my peers bemoan their lack of cooking skills, I think Chef Gusteau from Ratatouille was right: “Anyone can cook!” Even lazy college students! This blog is partly an attempt to help anyone looking to make the jump up from pasta and sauce out of a jar.

The realm of food is pretty wide open for exploration, and many times I decide what the end product is going to be while I’m cooking. I traverse a lot of different cuisines and rarely make the same thing twice. This blog is also an attempt to chronicle the ideas that pass through my mind on the way to the plate.

I have no formal culinary training, but my momma is a pretty darn good cook, if I do say so myself. Also, I am from the San Francisco Bay Area, which (I believe) possesses the greatest confluence of cultures and foods anywhere, so I have that to thank as well.

I am by no means a pro photographer either, but I shoot with a Canon Rebel T2i + kit lens, and edit using Adobe Photoshop CS5/Lightroom 3.

I also blog here. And finally, there’s this.

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Three simple rules:

1. No recipes, period. I do subscribe to a number of foodblogs for inspiration, but when it’s business time, it’s all about what feels right. The recipes you see here are the product of my improvisation, hopefully to serve as inspiration for you.

2. No measuring, period. I intentionally don’t own measuring devices, so any “measurements” listed here are more estimates than anything else. Flavor is a such a nebulous quality, so I am always tinkering during the cooking process.

3. Originality, period. I always try to add an unconventional ingredient or two to my dishes. It drives the creativity and makes things more interesting, yanno? To be piquant is to be unexpected. Experiment!