The Cook Next Door

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Nicky of Delicious Days has started a meme (which is sort of like a blogging chain letter) called The Cook Next Door. I've been tagged by Babe of Babe in the City KL to answer some questions. Thanks Babe! Sorry for the delay, here you go...

What is your first memory of baking/cooking? My grandmother came to live with us when I was four. She loved to bake and make Jello salads. She taught me how to make oatmeal cookies, which we would do together, though I confess I liked the dough more than the cookies themselves.

Who had the most influence on your cooking? Although grandma taught me about measuring cups, and my mother was the one who fed our large and growing family every day, both of my parents taught me to value food made from whole ingredients. I never had a TV dinner growing up, unlike so many of my friends. Almost everything my parents made was from scratch. Even now the only cans you can usually find in their pantry are of tomatoes, though they do stash some boxed chicken stock to be used in a pinch.

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets? I love my rice cooker. After living in Japan for a year I became addicted to genmai - brown rice. This rice cooker has a 13 hour timer so that you can put the rice in at night and have steaming hot rice for breakfast.

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else! My favorite breakfast is fresh hot brown rice with a raw egg cracked over it and mixed in it, shoyu (soy sauce) sprinkled on it with a little bit of nori (dried seaweed) and toasted sesame seeds. Typical Japanese breakfast, but not one that has high appeal to most people I know. The other thing I like is slices of apples in my cheese tacos - yum.

What are eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without? Avocados and artichokes. Thank goodness there is no shortage of either here in Northern California.

Weirdest thing you've ever eaten? raw squid eyeballs, raw liver of ray, deep fried eel head - all at the same hole in the wall in Kyoto, and chili fried crickets in Oaxaca.

You will probably never eat live insects or worms, if I can help it. I'm not that fond of menudo either.

Have you ever suffered in the name of food? I got a $340 ticket for picking a wild porcini mushroom in a state park. That hurt.

What do you consider your signature dish? oxtail stew.

Best meal in a restaurant? Nobu Restaurant in New York, five years ago. They had a set meal for about $200. It was worth it.

Who's that in the picture? It is I with my younger brother Matthew in our backyard in Los Angeles, mid 1960s. Have no idea what it is we are making, or pretending to make.

Who's Next?
I'm passing the torch to these three great foodies - Hillel at Tasting Menu, Chika of She Who Eats, and New Jersey's own Sweetnicks. Hope I'm not double tagging anyone!