How did your fascination with food develop? What shaped it? Was it gradual or sudden?

A: I like food, I am a chef and a traveler, and I am a paler version of my dad. He is a legendary eater and traveler, and my mom roomed with Vic Bergeron's kid in college. Trader Vic taught her to cook. So I was raised in a home that sought out the unusual, honest, authentic food experience. By the time I was 10, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Be in the food business. And I started getting into serious kitchens by the time I was 14.

How important is the journey -- the process of getting to a destination -- when you're trying new foods?

A: It's the most important because you shed your urban American skin, and you make yourself ready to download and immerse yourself. You make yourself available to be changed. You perk up your ears and your taste buds and open your eyes.

Does your background in the culinary arts and your profession as a chef influence your family's eating habits? If so, how?

A: Well, of course, but my wife is not a food professional and feels, thinks and cooks the same way. Ingredients with corn syrup for example don't exist in our house. Aside from a small handful of items, the hundreds of foods in our fridge, pantry and on our counters would all be recognizable by my grandmother. The night before I left on my current trip we made homemade parmesan-crusted chicken fingers -- dipped in flour, then egg, then parmesan bread crumbs -- because Noah, our son, had a friend over and that’s what they wanted. My wife makes pasta sauces from scratch and freezes them for convenience. So we have a pretty sophisticated, yet simple, food life, but freshness is key.

Fascination - elragadtatás,elbűvölés,vonzerő
Develop - fejleszt,kifejleszt,fejlődik
Pale - halvány,sápadt
Honest - tisztességes,becsületes
Authentic - valódi,igazi,hiteles
to perk up - felélénkül, jókedvre derül
Taste buds - Ízlelőbimbók
influence - befolyás,hatalom
Ingredient - hozzávaló,alapanyag
Aside from "something" - eltekintve valamitől
Pantry - éléstár,spájz
Crusted - megkérgesedett, heges, réteggel bevont
Dipped - mártott, be mártott
Crumb - kenyér morzsa
to crumb - szétmorzsol, kiránt, paníroz
Sophisticated - kifinomult, kitanult, tapasztalt, mesterkélt

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