foodwritter Archives - lafoodsitter

I am American born and had the great fortune of growing up in the countryside of the northern Italian region the Veneto. I soaked up culture, friendship and love of food through my mother’s intensely social attitude and followed her to markets and into the kitchen from three years of age onward.

I first met Terri about five years ago through our connection with Jamie Oliver’s Foundation.
She is a very lovely lady impossible not to fall in love with! She is caring, gives attention to the smallest of details when dealing with people and, YES!, she is a true food lover. Did I mention what a great food photographer she is as well? You can see it all on her blog Recipe Writings – and food memories.

What is the importance of your kitchen in your house?
The kitchen is the center of the house and a favorite place to write.

What’s the best part of the day for you to cook?
I am most inspired to cook in the morning as I like to create new things during the first part of the day. Sunday is my favorite day of the week to cook, and I often make fresh pasta or something that takes time to prepare on Sunday.

Are you a creative chef or simply love to follow recipes?
I am a creative cook. I like to read recipes in order to learn. Cooking is a continuously growing process so reading recipes is like learning a new language to me. When I cook, I cook intuitively though.

Three ingredients that are never missing on your kitchen cabinet?
Extra virgin olive oil, garlic and rosemary are always in my kitchen cabinet.

How did your passion for cooking come about?
My passion for cooking comes from two sources, my mother and her love of cooking and Italy, where I grew up.

What’s your favourite dish to cook that you know it can never go wrong with it?
My favorite dish is zucchini soup. It never goes wrong and always tastes wonderful. It’s like comfort on a spoon. On the other hand, risotto and polenta never go wrong either and I love them too. And of course, I can’t live without tomato soup, tomato sauce, tomato jam. I love tomatoes!

Would you receive for a day an entire tv crew in your kitchen?
Yes, I would receive a tv crew in my kitchen and I would make them a nice lunch.

Do you follow any tv show or have a favourite cooking book?
I don’t watch cooking shows generally. I have many favorite cookbooks. Cooks I admire are Elizabeth David, Alice Waters, Nigel Slater and of course Jamie Oliver. I have many cookbooks but choose them carefully. I have just ordered Julia Child’s “The Art of French Cooking” and will read it page by page!

Terri Salminen “I am a cook by profession and a philosopher by education. I am American born and had the great fortune of growing up in the countryside of the northern Italian region the Veneto. I soaked up culture, friendship and love of food through my mother’s intensely social attitude and followed her to markets and into the kitchen from three years of age onward.

https://terrisalminen.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/caldogno-1966.jpg?w=672&h=505&resize=660%2C495

I started cooking professionally when my first child was born. I follow the principles of the Italian kitchen, utilizing fresh, colorful and seasonal ingredients. I love to experiment with color and structure. In my cooking there is always a combination of raw and cooked, steamed or grilled, braised and stewed. I love herbs and cannot cook without olive oil, garlic and good sea salt.

I live in the Netherlands where I work as Sous Chef at Microsoft at Hutten, sometimes as private chef, give teaching classes and write about food for the Dutch edition of Jamie Magazine, on my own blog and for various special projects. My dream is to have a cooking school, open to the community, working with all generations, sharing the beauty of food.”

She was born in a family of cooks and couldn’t avoid the influence. She has a resume that leaves any food writers wannabe dribbling! Yet her simplicity and good taste on making simple things turn into divine meals is pure talent within her DNA.

What is the importance of your kitchen in your house?
It’s a place of sharing and giving. It holds the potential for community.

What’s the best part of the day for you to cook?
I love cooking on Sundays to prepare food, not only for that day, but for the week ahead. or at least the foundations for meals throughout the week. It’s relaxing but also focused because my schedule is so tight these days. (I fly to Birmingham, AL for work every week). I need to leave my family with some of me to remind them of me while i’m gone.

Are you a creative chef or simply love to follow recipes?
Creative. But i do follow recipes for unfamiliar foods or baking.

Three ingredients that are never missing on your kitchen cabinet?
Sriracha, cumin and coconut milk.

How did your passion for cooking come about?
I grew up in a food-centered family. My mother, grandparents, brother…all cooks.

What’s your favourite dish to cook that you kow it can never go wrong with it?
Pasta All’Arrabbiata. Spicy, quick, saucy.

Would you receive for a day an entire tv crew in your kitchen?
I’ve shot in my house numerous times. The crew comes in and literally takes over. Pictures on my walls are taken down, my kitchen counters are cleared, new props are put in place and there is no room for anything! So much photo equipment, props and crew! I love the energy of a film/photo crew, but by the end of the day, I’m ready for them to leave. We shot an episode of the TV show I was on, “Simplify Your Life” (several years ago), in my back yard and the crew trampled plants, moved my grill and furniture and never put it back. My poor plants! It took them a few years to come back after that. I much prefer photo crews to TV crews. More respectful and less crazy!

Do you follow any tv show or have a favourite cooking book?
I kind of love “La Mere de Famille”, a confectionary cookbook. Lovely photos. Also “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi – vegetarian magic.

Grace Parisi – or better know as the recipe goddess in the web world, “possibly by accident, she chose a career in food media that began more than 20 years ago. An art school grad with a degree in painting, Grace found bizarre work as a commercial TV food stylist gluing sesame seeds to hamburger buns and plumping barely cooked turkeys with mashed potatoes. Unfulfilled, Grace moved on to editorial work, food styling and writing for publications such as McCall’s, The New York Times, Redbook, and Food & Wine among others. This summer she joined the editorial team of Marley Spoon as Senior Culinary Editor.

Grace eventually joined the staff of Food & Wine Magazine as Senior Test Kitchen Editor, where she developed and wrote many noteworthy monthly columns, such as Food & Wine Handbook; Tasting & Testing; Flavor of the Month; Power Pantry; and Chefs Recipes Made Easy. Her most recent series was Grace in the Kitchen where she drew inspiration from personal experience and her family. She’s the author of 2 cookbooks, Summer/WInter Pasta and Get Saucy, a collection of more than 500 sauces which was nominated for a prestigious James Beard Award for Best Single Subject Book. She’s currently working on a third. Her recipes have also appeared in numerous collections and anthologies. She plays guitar, loves surfing, camping, gardening in her postage-stamp Brooklyn backyard and cooking for a crowd, including her husband and two children. She dreams of raising chickens, erecting bat houses and making found-object bird feeders.”

About excerpts from her website.