I'm a Canadian Master's student in early modern history at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. I started cooking a couple of years ago because I figured that I wished neither to starve nor live off of pancakes and stir fries when I move out. Since then I've amassed a collection of some 17 cookbooks and a library of saved, printed, and hastily jotted-down recipes, both of which seem to grow continually. I prefer simple, hearty food and fresh, local ingredients and I am resolute in my opinion that nothing need ever be 'finely chopped,' mostly because I'm bad at it. I have also recently climbed the personal Everest that is home-baked bread and plan to begin dueling with puff pastry in the not-too-distant future.
- What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
- I don't know what it was, everything was written in Arabic; it tasted of garlic.
- What do you cook when home alone?
- Garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette, pasta with legumes, or a roast with vegetables
- Your most treasured kitchen possession:
- An ancient, wood-handled knife from L.L. Bean
- The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
- Three to five
