aliyaleekong

Aliyaleekong is a New York City-based food blogger whose cooking reflects the Indian, Pakistani and East African flavors of her upbringing. Though she calls herself a "professional home cook", she's also earned bragging rights (and probably the most impeccable of knife skills) in the kitchens of Jean Georges and Per Se.

Her recipes would be alluring even in their most stripped down forms, but we love that she throws in an unexpectedly perfect ingredient in each one -- the cardamom in her peach streusel, the pomegranate molasses in her baby back ribs, the orange blossom in her melon gelato, the fenugreek in her creamy cauliflower puree -- that makes us want to unearth the underused spices and elixirs in our pantries and get cooking. See aliyaleekong's profile page and fan her here.

Read her profile Q&A below: