Category: Food Philosophy

Adding a Twist

When I was a kid, I really loved rice crispy treats.  I grew up in a traditionally Chinese household.  This meant that we very rarely had marshmallows in the house, and when we did,...

Humble Brownie

It’s after midnight, and I’m sitting here at my desk in a white camisole splattered with caramel and chocolate.  I swear I’ve washed my hands about a dozen times, but they still look lightly...

Sometimes Food is Selfish

I love cooking for my family. I really do.  I love the look on their face when a perfectly plated dinner lands right in front of them.  I love the delighted expressions when, “Oh...

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Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because we express our gratitude through food.  I’m a first-generation Chinese daughter, so I grew up in a pretty strict household where we ate rice...

Recursive Celery

My idea of a fantastic evening is one spent puttering around the kitchen with a glass of wine, and Norah Jones on the radio.  It was during one of these putterings that my friend...

The Cardoon as Femme Fatale

I have never seen a cardoon so beautiful as the one depicted in Juan Sánchez Cotán’s “Still Life with Game Fowl, Vegetables and Fruits.” (c. 1602) The rustic, stalky vegetable reclines itself in a...

The Sensuality of Food

The Sensuality of Food

Cooking is perhaps the only artform that entices all five senses. Taste and touch are simultaneously engaged with the first bite. Sweet, savory, bitter, a spectrum of flavors stroke the tongue, while temperature and...

Foodie Street Cred

Foodie Street Cred

My earliest memory of street food was pushing through a crowded night market in Hong Kong, holding tightly onto my dad’s hand. The sensation was one of being 100% enveloped in the sweet-salty smell...

A Farewell Cup of Tea

A Farewell Cup of Tea

A good friend of mine unexpectedly passed away right before Christmas. He was my circumstantial confidante, my philosophical friend and perhaps even, my alter ego. Dealing with his death remains one of the greatest...

Umami Memories

Being Chinese, I was brought up on bowls of rice and various stir fried dishes. The technique was always more or less the same, hot oil with ginger and/or garlic; thinly sliced meat marinated...