So now that you have an idea about the purpose of my blog, I want to answer why TASTEABROAD has its name. Let`s get back to my background.
Soon after I graduated from university, I realized that I am not sold on settling down and there is too much World to see and TASTE! So I packed my bags, sold my car and moved to the city of my dreams and a culinary mecca – Barcelona.
Spain got me obsessed with fresh ingredients, I lived 2 blocks away from La Boqueria – most famous market in town. Every day on my way to my school ( oh yes I forgot to tell you – to move to Spain I passed all sorts of exams and enrolled to an amazing business school) I saw workers unloading trucks with fresh vegetables, boxes of fresh caught fish and sea monsters I never saw before, bags of crispy baguette.. That was the first time I realized – cooking is not just my hobby or some everyday chore, it is my passion!
4 amazing years while studying and working in Spain I got to learn their culinary culture, I mastered paella and risotto, got my hands on new ingredients I never thought I would have access to – saffron, jamon, fresh olives. And I went beyond with my culinary travel – I learnt so many other amazing dishes from around the GLOBE: Thai curries, Italian pastas, French escargot, Belgian beer stew, Portuguese shrimp pil-pil, Fusion sushi rolls…I could not get enough of it! I still cherish those memories and it still makes me smile to think of that excitement I developed for food and cooking. But life is a movement and I found myself needing a change.
Some people think of a change as a move from/to apartments/jobs/city. I went further. I changed a big city life to a “rush slowly” lifestyle on a remote Caribbean island named Saint Kitts.
Island life was so refreshing, so new and so challenging! I came from a world where I can get any ingredient I can think of to a world where ocean dictates what is on my plate today and for the rest of the week. Everything was imported from a “big land” and if the ship would not make it this week due to the weather and ocean condition – you will need to use your imagination and just create a dish from what you have. That was a real survival school for me as a chef, but it got me so much more versatile.
I learnt respect to every single ingredient from local people, which have a true talent for healthy yet tasty cooking. Much simpler recipes, much more attention to detail and much more food as a religion – that is what Caribbean culinary world had to offer I did not take it for granted. I traveled to nearby islands, got to try so many new dishes and to learn that sometimes taste is much more important than presentation!
I spent 3 amazing years in St Kitts, met love of my life and finally got to where I am right now…Another big culinary mecca in United States – Charleston, South Carolina. If you never heard of southern cooking – let me describe it to you in three words: comforting, entertaining and soooo TASTY!
I am still learning my way through thousands of authentic recipes which I incorporate in my previous cooking experience. So TASTEABROAD is a mix of all the countries and cultures I was lucky to experience and my own cooking tips and secrets I got to develop through my food journey and I am so excited to share it with you!