About the Recipes Found Here

I didn’t go to culinary school (not that that’s a bad thing). I’ve never cooked in a restaurant. Rather, I’ve been cooking, studying, experimenting and eating for a looooong time. As a restaurant critic and food writer, I’m always hopeful that what I eat in a well-regarded restaurant will be wonderful. And it often isn’t. Likewise, cookbook recipes often don’t make the cut as written, either. Those rare recipes that don’t need to be changed are a delight. See my post on that: “Great Meals from Cookbook Recipes? Nah.” Evidently some significant chefs agree with me, as my article describes.

What I seek in a special meal (as opposed to just slugging something down because it’s meal time) is a dish that makes you stop and pay attention. Your tastebuds are suddenly on full alert, enjoyable aware of a positive sensual experience. Foodies have undoubtedly heard this analogy before, but….if the food is just “good,” that’s not good enough. It needs to be great. At least, great to me; de gustibus non est disputatum. So I reinvent recipes, make up recipes, and if I do find a wow dish in a restaurant, I can often create a recipe for it. I’ve identified the provenance of all the recipes here, which includes some from my favorite chefs.

Cooking is my passionate hobby. If it’s yours as well, let’s share recipes, tips, opinions, gripes and whatever else comes to mind. ]

(By the way, the “cook” in the illustration above, drawn by gifted artist Delana Bettoli, is me!)