As a private chef, I am always experimenting with food.

I remember being scolded as a child and told to “not play with my food.”  These days, I have the great privilege to play with food.  (It’s quite literally my job.)  I am constantly researching new cooking techniques and exploring new ways to combine spices.  The same way words convey different meanings based on their order and how we string them together, the same ingredients will tell a different story based on where and how they’re used.  

I often get asked what I eat as a private chef.  I admit there have been a handful of nights where at the end of cooking a five-course meal for clients, I mindlessly shove a rice cracker in my mouth with whatever leftovers I happen to have in my fridge.  But for the most part, I cook for myself the way I cook for clients.  I have a collection of cookbooks that finally get to be in my kitchen after a recent move, and it’s a deep pleasure to sit on the couch and thumb through recipes.  I love focusing on what’s seasonal and local; I do my best to build meals around those pillars.

And, I’ve recently embarked on an anti-inflammatory diet journey.  Although I typically focus on whole foods in my own diet, this is a bit more intentional.  I’m working to improve gut health in my body; as such, I’m not eating grains, starchy vegetables, sugary fruits, most nuts, sweeteners, etc.  I’ve completed several Whole30s over the past few years, and this is a bit different.  It’s targeted in nature.

I’ve lived a gluten-free life for twelve years, and a soy- and dairy-free life for maybe eight of those.  But this way of eating is a different beast.  I LOVE brown rice pasta (if I ever get sponsored by Jovial, my dreams will come true), I love all white rices (risotto rocks my world), and I’m potatoes’ number one fan (mashed, baked, fried, wedged, shredded – the versatility!).  Instead, it’s quinoa and buckwheat and *true* wild rice.  It’s socca (a chickpea flour pancake) with homemade berry compote (sans maple syrup, sadly) or cucumber coconut yogurt “tzatziki.”  Next up will be a deep dive into the worlds of amaranth and sorghum.

I don’t know that I would be experimenting with these particular ingredients if it weren’t for this intentional shift in my diet, but here I am.  It’s an absolute joy to get to know these different ingredients and wonder how they will weave into the next set of seasonal offerings.

Being a private chef is a constant invitation into adventure and exploration.  “Adventure through Food” is the name of my business for a reason (although if I had fully understood SEO eight months ago, I might have chosen something slightly different :)).  I believe that each meal tells a story, be it of the lands from which it was grown, the country from which the recipe originated, or from the grandmother who first created the dish.  I am aware that the globalization of ingredients creates a carbon footprint, and that’s a topic for a different blog post.  In the meantime, I’m grateful to be able to experiment and explore as a private chef… to truly adventure through food.