Current Influences on My Cooking

Simplicity is a quality that has really defined my cooking over the past few years. While I can truly enjoy being served something along the lines of a pan-sauteed Amadai in a Yuzu citrus broth with lily bulbs, I’ve learned that I don’t have the patience to make such an elaborate dish most of the time.

Over the summer I was completely consumed by Jamie Oliver’s cooking. Many of his dishes focus on brilliant, fresh ingredients and are prepared with simple and rustic techniques which reflect my own personal style these days.

Warm Winter Salad of Roast Duck and Pumpkin with an Asian-Style Dressing

Sweet Cherry Tomato and Sausage Bake

I also got my socks knocked off by Marcus Samuelsson’s The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa. A slight variance from the normal type of cookbook I might pick up, but it also offered some very elegant and rich, yet honest and simple recipes and philosophies.