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Who inspired you to be passionate about food

topic posted Thu, April 19, 2007 - 8:30 AM by  Shantao
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Yes alton is one of my heros cause he is a geek and my mom and dad taught me how to cook at an early age but the person that inspired me to really go forward with our cheesecake business is pastry chef Jorge Sotelo his napa style cheesecake (and my wife's reaction to eating it) caused me to research, and then modify the recipe to find a cheesecake that causes people to salivate just at the thought of it
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Shantao
offline Shantao
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  • Re: Who inspired you to be passionate about food

    Thu, April 19, 2007 - 12:03 PM
    Wasn't as much "who" as "what"

    When I was about 11, my younger brother took piano lessons on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (which is where I live now). My mother used to drive him, and sometimes I'd go along and we'd go shopping, including at Zabar's. It wasn't the big deal it is now ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabar%27s ) but they had these cheeses and smoked fish, not to mention cooking gadgets hanging from the ceiling.

    About 10 years later, when I got out of college, there were a lot of fun restaurants to go to in New York, especially in Greenwich Village. One of my best friends from college lived in the Village (his next-door neighbor was Marianne Faithful) and he and his roommate used to scope out the good places to go.

    The biggest influence, though, was living in France for 8 years. It just seemed like there were so many good things to eat that you'd be foolish to ever have calories that weren't pleasurable. I didn't really LIKE living in France, btw, but I loved the food.
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  • Surv...
    Survival_Mama
    online 89

    Re: Who inspired you to be passionate about food

    Thu, April 19, 2007 - 12:08 PM
    My whole family is passionate about food. We farmed, so we raised most of our food and felt very connected with it and where it came from. We're also a bunch of great cooks and a bit competitive about it, always trying to be the one who brings THE dish to holiday meals and such.

    I love to cook for the people I love and I love to experiment with flavors and new techniques, always searching for that thing that makes everyone at the table sigh with bliss.
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  • §tin...
    §tina Monkey:
    offline 82

    Re: Who inspired you to be passionate about food

    Thu, April 19, 2007 - 3:02 PM
    My tongue!

    Growing up in a household with no flavor (health food with no seasoning, no love and no soul), I just KNEW there had to be more
    I use recipes as a starting point, or as inspiration only - I really like winging it
    I find the best meals are "mistakes"
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    • Lis,...
      Lis, The
      offline 19

      Re: Who inspired you to be passionate about food

      Thu, April 19, 2007 - 3:16 PM
      Honestly I've only recently really been enamored with cooking... I'm a good cook but and I loved and do love to cook for friends and family but my real talent was baking... and no one really got me into it... it was just something that I tried and ended up loving
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      • Trin...
        Trina MC
        offline 169

        Re: Who inspired you to be passionate about food

        Wed, April 25, 2007 - 10:56 AM
        I've been married just about 17 years and HATED cooking and pretty much refused to do it for the first 15 years of our marriage (vegetarian for 10 years)...BUT when I did cook---it would be a WHAMMO of a recipe that had folks swooning with desire for more but I didn't care....(too damn bad) cooking in my opinion was a huge waste of time and energy!!!

        Then I got pregnant and my tastes changed, heartburn kicked in etc etc and I domesticated a bit...I was tamed! =)

        THEN after having Amelie, I became a domestic goddess and my hubby finally took the apron off and became a man (just joking)....anyway, we became vegan and I haven't stopped cooking since--I make every thing pretty much from scratch (breads, veggie burgers, tofu balls etc etc)....

        I would love to take some vegan cooking classes and also some vegan baking classes....unfortunately, they don't offer in my area so I just cook constantly and work out the kinks that way...trial & error and calling my best friend...and I'm pretty obsessed with all my handy dandy vegan cookbooks...

        So, long story short....my inspiration goes by the name of Mzzzz. Amelie and also for life itself...the less damage & harm we can do in this world the better (for us)....my meals for my family are made with love & compassion and it feels great to know that no animals were harmed in our meals....
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