Have You Eaten Yet?

Food in China is so ingrained in the cultural psyche that people greet each other by saying "Have You Eaten Yet? - Ni chi le ma?" - 你吃了嗎?

Eating, drinking, food and all that goes with it, is indeed a very important part of everybody's life - wherever you go in the world. Some people may get the impression that there are so-called 'foodies' popping up all over the place and may even believe that new food blogs reviewing restaurants, testing recipes and showing off culinary tips are just a fad. But in fact, this is not a new phenomenon: people have been interested in food and have been writing about it since time immemorial. Perhaps now we notice more because of the widespread reach enabled by the internet, globalisation, social media, TV and radio programmes.

Animal Farm - a Chinese interpretation

I've been living in China for the last three years and I have been very lucky to try foods from different regions of this humongous country. I've taken lessons, watched TV programmes and read lots of books. But I've also been travelling around quite a bit, like a diplomatic bag. Add to that a colourful culinary background - from South American to English, passing through Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, South-east Asian and a little bit of sugarcraft, cake making and decorating, you can imagine I have a handful of things I would like to share.

So allow me to indulge myself and join the masses, by starting yet another blog about food. I was hoping to create something new, beautiful and inspiring, but real life is not always like that, and if I am going to stop procrastinating, I will just do it, with whatever images I can make, even if they are not perfect, photographically speaking.

I have always enjoyed food, but not always been a good cook. Although you don't need to be able to cook to enjoy food, I am convinced that knowing how to prepare gravy from scratch, to roll a crisp shortcrust pastry, to stir-fry gong bao chicken in stages and to roast beef to Argentine perfection takes food appreciation to a higher level.

I will confess then, that I only learnt how to cook when I met my husband and we went to live in Iran. Armed with my two bibles: Delia Smith and Doña Petrona, I then added Claudia Roden and a whole list of other authors in order to discover ingredients I had never seen before, whose names were totally unfamiliar and tasted odd or weird to this girl from the 'arrabal' of  Buenos Aires. But I adapted and survived - most importantly, my husband survived. And I have been cooking, testing, learning and enjoying ever since.  I am very glad to say that the best meals we've had have always been at family and friends' homes, prepared with love, care and generosity and shared with all our hearts.

Welcome to my food blog and thank you for stopping by.