Hi! This site is a place where I keep recipes and information about the food that I cook. This page will have a few general notes about how I think about food and cooking in general as well for those interested. Enjoy! -Nick --- ### Measurements With few exceptions, I don't really measure anything when I cook. I understand that many people like having precise directions to follow, though, so if the lack of measurements on this site makes you uncomfortable I urge you to trust your gut and taste frequently. It's gonna turn out great, and it's gonna be even better the next time you make it! I will instead try to give some guidance on how things should look, feel, or taste throughout these recipes to help keep you on track. And, when measurements REALLY do matter, I will call them out. Most of the time they don't though. ### Gut Health I have found that keeping my gut microbiome happy tends to keep me happy in many other aspects of my life as well, so a lot of the cooking decisions that I make prioritize that. You will see a lot of fermented foods and low inflammation foods here, and I tend to avoid the following altogether: - Red Meat - Gluten - Dairy - Refined Sugar - Additives That doesn't mean those things aren't delicious though! Feel free to add any or all of those things to my recipes if you like... there are no wrong answers. Additionally I will try to identify where I have made diet-based decisions that may have good substitutions outside of the way I normally do it. Additionally, I am often cooking for someone who is insensitive to onions, so you won't see a lot of those here, but I'll try to identify where they can/should be added. ### Authenticity A lot of what I like to cook may be considered “cultural” or “international” food. Sometimes from my own culture(s) and sometimes from those of others. In all cases, I (respectfully) am not particularly drawn towards, nor particularly good at, recreating “authentic” versions of these dishes, but rather towards understanding what the “minimum viable product” is around the core of each dish and building something that I think is delicious around it. Therefore, when I use references to specific cultures or nationalities, please understand that these are referential and appreciative but that I may not be cooking the dish the way you would commonly find it cooked on its home turf.