Culinary Arts

When I was growing up, I never wanted to learn to cook. Why should I when all the matriarchal figures in my family were such masters of their domestic trade? My mom’s phở has a distinct umami that renders me nostalgic every time. My older sister and sister-in-law took turns dishing out holiday favorites like ginger lobster, roasted free-range chicken with fried sticky rice and lamb hotpot. There was never an opportunity for me to even have a thought of stepping into a kitchen.

And then I haphazardly fell into adulthood. I moved to college, then out of the country, then to another country, another state… I’ve picked up so many flavors along the way; and with that, a constant urge to recapture those flavors I left behind – including those of home.

My husband and I started learning to cook – from friends, our parents and the internet. We’ve failed plenty of times; but each time, we picked up a new skill. By no means are we chefs. We just reeealllly like food. To call us “foodies” seem facile. We’re cultural and gastronomy zealots. Nothing tells you more about a culture than their food. The two are so inextricably intertwined. To know one is to naturally love the other. And so on a daily basis, we relish and fall in love.

Here’s a small taste of our culinary adventures: