It seems as if my entire life has been spent learning to cook. It's only in the past few years that I've consciously tried to become a better cuisinier. Along the way so many people have touched me. My mother, with her familiar refrain of "Come and watch me cook", her sauteed mushrooms and baked macaroni with 7 cheeses. My Italian grandmother, who I don't remember, but who taught my Irish mother how to cook. The owner of The Blue Heron in Reno, NV who taught me how to cut an onion CORRECTLY (turns out he was right on, Jacque Pepin uses the same technique). Steve at my first food job, soda jerk, who showed me the correct way to make espresso drinks.Lee Zucker of The LocoMotive Restaurant right here in Eugene, who taught me everything, but above all else, instilled a drive for perfection (damn you Lee!), a scientific approach, and an appreciation of flavor. Also, Julia, Jacques, and my other heroes at PBS, my favorite foodie friends, Robin, Jessica and Lisa, and countless others.
Some things I had to learn by myself, of course; how to get a good crust (higher heat than you'd think!), how to make the genoise rise and the cream puff puff, but without all the help, where would I be?
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I don't cut onions OR garlic right, I know. I watch Jacques and if I try I can do it like he does, but I get lazy and sloppy most of the time. And don't keep my knives sharp enough... Sigh. Always there's room for improvements. I suppose that's good! I did relatively recently learn how to crack eggs better - on a flat surface rather than an edge. Fewer eggshell bits. Other people probably always knew that, but I didn't!
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