Looking At Life Through Food

Have you ever wondered how your life experiences and food preferences evolved around one another? I think it’s quite fascinating actually. Starting from your childhood preferences and moving on to your life’s major events and how they shaped your relationship with food.

My first culinary memory evolved around potatoes. My parents gave me a gift of a kids’ cookery set when I was 5 or 6 years old. I do not quite remember what was there, but definitely an aluminium frying pan. Peeling the potatoes, cutting them into seemingly uniform slices and frying the hell out of them. They were sticking to that pan, burning and not quite cooking as required, but it was fun!

I was never keen on slimy texture. I really do not like jelly. Yet I remember vividly from my childhood years that the food I couldn’t yet at all was zucchini fritters. You grate zucchini, mix with flour egg and seasoning and fry it. I do not know why I did not like it that much, but being usually so calm, I would do such tantrums just not to have those on my plate. My maternal grandmother was a culinary professional and she was always interesting I had those fritters as often as possible. I don’t know why but that was almost like a rebellion on my part to try and avoid that food. I guess I’m not particularly keen on authority, heh?

Being Ukrainian, I was always in love with borscht. I think I like both the classic versions and cold ones, with beetroots and green ones. And even nowadays, on a cold evening when I have got time to cook, I would do a huge pot of classic borscht, albeit I mostly do a vegetarian one.  For my veggie borscht I love adding beans (sometimes whole but sometimes more of a Mexican-style refried beans puree) and sometimes mushrooms (meaty oyster mushrooms work best I think).

Being born in Crimea, and spending summers on its rather pretty beaches, another childhood food memory is boiled corn on the cob. Just give a few those with butter and salt and I’m a happy bunny enjoying the beach, sun and sea; and not annoying my mother. These days I prefer to pick the corn young, and steam it instead of boiling it, and it is still such a treat for me every summer. 

That’s probably why all this business with freshly made Mexican masa and making corn tortillas from scratch is something I’m very excited about. 

I remember my first sips of wine at the age of 12-14 years old. Just a sip at lunch was ok and gladly offered by my maternal grandpa. Later on, being a young marketing professional and living in Kyiv, we shared some local wines and newly popular New World ones with my friends and that’s how it has developed into some sort of a hobby. Already in my 30s I’ve taken on courses with WSET and after a few years managed to get a Diploma. Call me a wine nerd (I’d write more about my fascination about wines later).

One of my first expat experiences was Gibraltar, which is gloriously located in the south of Spain with all its fresh produce and tapas culture. I’m very keen on those small pieces of happiness topped with fresh variety of produce. Here is where I started valuing novelty and the sheer variety of foods.  Take me to one of the many tapas bars in Barcelona or in Basque country and I’d be very happy!

Talking about novelty and exotic foods. My first experience of avocado was a disappointment  – I simply didn’t get why everybody was so delighted! Luckily very soon after I had an opportunity to actually eat a ripe one! Wowza! 

Similarly with coconut. Right now it’s one of my favourite ingredients. I can make a soup with it, toast it and sprinkle on top of grilled pineapple or simply buy a fresh one and drink its delicious water. Yet in the very beginning, when trying the desiccated coconut in a packet, I was not impressed. I even bought a coconut ‘machine’ in Sri Lanka, which allows you to quickly scrape the white ‘meat’ and create dishes with fresh coconut. Yum!

I’m partial to duck, probably one of the animal proteins I’d buy for special occasions. My parents are still serving roast duck stuffed with green apples for their New Year celebrations. I’ve learned how to cook duck breast juicy and pink and I remember serving delicious duck salads – they are rich and tasty, yet amazing for summer too. Recently I wanted to go one step further and cook duck carnitas – little pieces of duck roasted and then browned for delicious Mexican tacos – it was a huge success. 

Being vegan for 7-8 years, I didn’t feel it was hard or anything like that. Yet I didn’t manage to start loving tofu. And even though, as I’ve already mentioned, I still eat 90% plant-based, people call me flexitarian, I do enjoy an occasional fish course or a seafood soup enriched with seaweed broth. 

Another, more recent food memory, is those British Sunday Lunches. The abundance of food, many delicious yet simple accompaniments and a group of friends or family to devour it all. I like variety and a community touch. 

As I’m currently residing in Georgia, I must say I was taken by some incredibly simple foods that are grown here to perfection. The smell and taste of tomatoes is just divine. 

Yet my latest food craze isn’t connected to Georgian food. It’s all about Mexico! I’ve been learning for years and currently own a Mexican venue (for already 2 years), where we do some of the well-known classics and a few local-to-Mexico fusion ones.

What’s fascinating is the similarities between staples, which fit perfectly to plant-based for veggie diets – beans, corn, tomatoes, pumpkin, and wild greens.

I am currently working on more of the fusion experiments including new salsas, fillings and accompaniments. Eastern European areas, especially those affected by USSR is still performing quite poorly in flavour, so my idea is to create local fusion dishes that inherit some vibrancy and joy of Mexican food. I will write about these later on too, watch this space as I’ve got ideas!