Afro-Peruvian Creole Feast
For the past two years, I’ve celebrated February 14 at 18 Reasons with a Peruvian pop-up dinner to cure a broken heart — a theme and healing menu inspired by a story from Peru’s Nobel Laureate author, Mario Vargas Llosa. This year, however, in honor of Black History Month, I wanted to create a menu that celebrated the culture of Black Peru — I wanted to bring people together for a feast.
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Quick, think of your favorite food. Now think of adjectives that describe it’s taste. Was it easy or challenging? We often say something tastes good, but have a hard time describing why something tastes good to us. That is because taste is actually something very complex, but at the IFBC session on taste, we learned how to put flavor into… Read more →
When I attended IFBC in past years, I was immediately drawn to sessions that I was familiar with and wanted to learn more about, such as wine tasting, photography, or writing. But this year, one of my goals at IFBC was to attend sessions on topics that were unfamiliar to me, which made for some challenging decisions, specially when there… Read more →
At this year’s IFBC, the keynote speaker was John Ash — chef, author, and wine educator, who pioneered the use of local and seasonal ingredients in his Northern California restaurant. But instead of talking about cooking techniques or how to pair wine with food, he talked about his mentors, and why it was so important in his development as a chef. Read more →
Peruvian Tasting at 18 Reasons, August 2, 2011
5 years ago today, on August 2, 2011, I cooked the first ever Peruvian dinner at 18 Reasons. And since then, I’ve had the honor of becoming a regular guest chef and teacher there, bringing 24 pop-up dinners and cooking classes to a community eager to be taken on a gastronomical tour of Peruvian cuisine. Recently, I was asked by 18 Reasons to share my Tiradito Nikkei recipe for their volunteer newsletter, and to answer some questions about what drew me to 18 Reasons. I am happy to share that interview with you in this post. Thank you 18 Reasons for 5 wonderful years, I look forward to the next 5 years of sharing Peruvian cuisine with your community — cheers!
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