Welcome. I'm Natalie, the genetic chef. Why the weird name? Actually, my husband thought of it and it's quite brilliant because for me, cooking is in my genes, hence the name the genetic chef.
I love to cook and write recipes. I may write some funny stories to go along with how the recipe came about, or I could simply write about the ingredients and how to create. My hope is for you to experience sitting around a table communicating, arguing, and laughing while enjoying a great meal. That’s how I grew up and I feel it’s an experience that’s getting lost with the busy lives we all lead today. If you can, make some time with your family and friends, sit around a table, and enjoy the company. Food brings us all together. It’s a great opportunity to start conversations and even a better opportunity to get to know the people with whom you’re sharing a great meal. Eat, talk, enjoy, because time does fly by. I've been cooking since childhood and was taught by my family of master cooks. They were trained by their mothers and grandmothers just like all the famous chefs who travel to villages to learn from mothers and grandmothers. The difference is mine were family and I was taught for free. It's funny when I read a technique that is all the new rage when it's how we have done it forever. Makes me proud that I was taught by the best.
I test, test, and retest my recipes before posting. My goal is to put out the best recipe I can for you because ingredients cost money and time is priceless. I know how it feels to make a recipe that looked great on video or on a post only to end in disappointment. It’s frustrating when my time and money go down the drain. Please know, my goal is only to share the best I can offer for you, the reader, who took time out of your busy day to visit my blog.
You’ll find a combination of my own recipes, generational recipes, and some from cookbooks or magazines that inspire me. The generational recipes are from my Peruvian and Italian background. But, my Mom remarried an English, Irish, Scottish, Frenchman who taught me a few things as well.
I am passionate about food and cooking and try to share that passion with you. The best people I meet are the ones at the supermarket when one of us strikes up a conversation about an ingredient on the shelf that later turns into a half hour conversation about some crazy good recipe. When someone is sharing their love of food with a smile and becomes all animated when describing how they cook, they are a friend to me. Some of the best tips I learn are from people I meet at the market.
The only celebrity chefs that inspire me are from the good old days on PBS. Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and Mary Ann Esposito, to name a few. They were true cooks explaining everything from the ingredients to techniques without all the glam and degrading tone that's on today. I'm not impressed by a chef who can make a meal with filet mignon and fruit loops. I am impressed by someone who can show me how to make a great dish using whatever ingredients they have on hand.
When I cook I don't measure. When I wrote down and recreated these recipes for you, I actually cooked by sight capturing the amount I would sprinkle or shake with a plate then measuring it to be as precise as possible. That's what I did when I asked my Mom to cook and show me her recipes. She would sprinkle in a spice when cooking using feel or sight knowing it was perfect and I would capture it with a plate. When I would measure what she sprinkled it would be precisely what she expected - one teaspoon, ¼ teaspoon or whatever the measure. Same went for liquid. She would measure by shakes of a bottle. Shake shake shake and it would be quarter of a cup. Amazing.
Now I can also recreate measurements by sight. I still amaze myself when I can pour out a ¼ cup of olive oil into a skillet. Maybe that's my only superpower. If you want to learn the same way I did, then you have to just cook, taste, adjust, taste, and repeat until it's perfect for you. Unlike baking, cooking doesn't have to be exact. You can create your own version of a dish by tweaking it.
Lastly, enjoy your food. Buy the best and freshest ingredients you can afford and treat yourself. You deserve the very best in life.
Life is too short for mediocre food.
Natalie