Culinary Love from Childhood!

It all began when I was a little girl... I love cooking and tasting food since my childhood. I think, this is coming from my Albanian and Turkish genes. Albanians and Turks love cooking so much and create great stuffs! You can experience it by visiting these countries or simply just going for a dinner at a Turkish or Balkan restaurant.

Anyway... Mother side of my family is Albanian and my grandma is typically an Albanian grandma. She always cooks delicious meals, and for years, she trained me while I was on summer holidays spending time with her. She is a tough woman, she doesn't like things easily and her teaching methods are also though like herself. She got me trained and as a result, I was able to cook many Turkish and Balkan foods from a very young age. So George Brown College is not my first culinary school in my life :)

To become a chef is my childhood dream. I think, I should give a credit to my grandma at this point. In Turkey, I was studying law in spite of the fact that I would really love to study culinary skills. After coming to Canada, I kept going studying law. However, because I really love cooking and wanted to get educated on culinary skills, I wanted to give myself one year study as a gift. Now, by studying Culinary Skills at George Brown College, finally my dreams are coming true.

- No one is born a great cook, one learns by doing. (Julia Child)

Now, I work in a Turkish restaurant. So I have a chance to see how the industry works. I learn how to season and marinate meat.

Another fun fact is about this blog. My husband loves photography and design as much as I love cooking. We are sharing a blog dream that I cook and write and he shoots photos for my blog. I truly believe that he will help me with the pictures.

By writing this blog, I also will create my own recipes, and learn new methods by practising. I will share every details here.

My favourite food blog is Cafe Fernando by Cenk Sönmezsoy. I have many reasons to love this blog. First thing, the most important one, he sees cooking as an art. He doesn't just cook or bake, also creates and art. His food photos are amazing and he really cares about it. Secondly, his recipes are very well measured. I tried many times cooking with his recipes and the results were always very impressive. He also helps his followers gain habits. After following his blog for a while, I've got an amazing habit now. Every Sunday, I make myself a cake or cookies as snacks to get prepared for stressful Monday. Final thing is that he is Turkish, but he shares his posts in English and cooks international recipes. Sometimes, he combines Turkish culture with other cuisines. An example for this is his brownie art "Brownie Wears Lace".

Brownie Wears Lace by Cenk Sönmezsoy

References

Sonmezsoy, C. (Chef). (2010, October 30). Brownie wears lace [digital image]. Retrieved from http://theartfulbakercookbook.com

Child, J. (2006). My life in France. United States: Alfred A. Knopf