I am Lilia Lord
My blog brings you decades of learned and acquired cooking experience and a vast knowledge of food and nutrition.
I will tell you how I got to where I am now and where I was then.
After finishing my nutrition undergraduate degree, my next venture is to learn to cook. Both my mother and maternal grandmother cannot boil water! At 21, I was at a ripe age to marry, but I was ill-prepared for this adventure. I am shameless to say that I needed to learn how to cook. I obliged to go to a cooking school in France to appease my grandmother. There, I felt like an outcast in my class. I don’t speak French, and the Chefs don’t speak English. Thank goodness there are interpreters! I had difficulty following essential cooking preparations because I did not know the cooking terms and procedures. To learn how to cook, I had to learn the basics. I did not see the difference between beating and whisking. Worst of all, my palate is uneducated and only in tune with the limited variety of food I chose to eat while growing up.
I share Julia Child's frustration while she was in cooking school. I spent countless hours developing my skills to learn cooking processes to perfection. The French chefs do not use electric kitchen devices. Mastering the whisk was the only way to pass the 5 basic French sauce preparation. My degree was in nutrition, not home economics, where we dealt more with the chemistry of food, nutrition, diets, and nutrients. While cooking is part of the curriculum, hands-on cooking was limited, so I did not develop any skills. So here I am, a clueless country bumkin. With hard work, I managed to finish my course. The chefs knew I was a dietitian. They always remind me that French cooking has no boullion cube, margarine, vegetable oil, and shortcuts. 24/7, there is a stock pot boiling with cracked veal bones and vegetable scraps to make stock which is added to the dishes they are preparing to achieve that savory or Umami flavor.
After cooking school, I went back home. Thanks to my mother, I became an entrepreneur. Everyone in my hometown knew that I went abroad to learn how to bake and cook. Orders for cakes and pastries for every occasion came in. The business helped hone my skills in baking, decorating cakes, and making pastries. My French cooking notes remained in my closet since only a handful of my family was into French food. That being rich in fat from butter and hard to find ingredients. On special occasions, my grandmother requests that I cook and show off my French cooking skills, preparing dishes like pate de foie gras, Gallantine, souffle, crème brulee, crepe Suzette, French macaroons, Croque Monsieur and more.
After a year, I went abroad to pursue graduate studies in Nutrition. I stayed and worked in NYC after graduate school to enhance my clinical experiences. There, the world of food unknown to my palate and vocabulary opened. At that time, New York City was bursting with numerous ethnic groups owing to increased migration. Manhattan and the other boroughs had rows and rows of restaurants and talented chefs vying for the Michelin star. I searched and dined in this restaurant to experience fine dining alone since my roommates were too cheap to pay. I ate at the Waldorf Astoria as if I was a princess. The baroque surroundings magically entranced me. The luxury and exquisite façade of the Russian tea room was a sight to behold. Eating the Beluga caviar with Blini is an adventure in dining. There, I experienced authentic fine dining. Later, I went to Russia via the Orient Express and experienced the delight of fine dining and savory food.
The memories of my visit to the Russian Tea Room resurface. I am sad that it is now under new ownership, and the name Russian Tea Room is now history. Mind you, I ate boxes of Hi Ho crackers and Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for months to save money from my limited income as a dietitian to eat at this restaurant. At that time, there was no Starbucks or McDonald's, but Choc full of nuts and Dunkin Donuts on every corner. Tad's steak was a weekend treat with my pals. Instead of dating, I went to bodegas in South Bronx and other boroughs where you can experience eating ethnic foods and exotic fruits and vegetables. I ate Jewish food and learned about kosher, Puerto Rican, Caribbean, Italian, Jewish deli, and American soul food. I read recipes from countless cookbooks. I wanted to experience how a particular dish tastes, smells and looks. I want to identify the ingredients used to create that savory taste that spells Umami. What’s the difference between Lasagna and Lasagna Bolognese?
Finally, I ventured into cooking wares. I became addicted to Bloomingdale’s houseware department, where copper pots and kitchen tools abound. Beautiful dishes and wares to serve and entertain The Broadway plays, The NYC museums and my Friday standby at the Metropolitan opera house at the Lincoln center and my work as a Registered Dietitian kept me in my toes. Life goes on as I continue with my adventure.
I now have an educated palate. I live in Los Angeles, where the list of cuisines is endless and the ingredients plentiful. My fascination for cooking and gardening continues. I grow most of the herbs I use in my cooking. I am fascinated with fiddleheads, ramps, and scapes and try to use them in my cuisine whenever they are available or in season. I have a raised bed dedicated to ingredients where I grow ginger, galangal, garlic, soft neck, and hard neck for scapes, shallots, turmeric, celery, basil, oregano, sorrel, fennel, dill, tarragon rosemary leek, Italian parsley, etc. I grow at least 5 varieties of eggplants, just because. I have fallen in love with Korean food and banchan and am enamored with Italian food. I love the simplicity of Japanese food and the spiciness of Thai food. I can not have enough Filipino, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Indian, the 3 Mexican moles (red, green, and black), Chinese, Laotian larb, and more. I am learning to acquaint myself with fusion food. My love for French food remains. After all, it is the 1st cuisine I Learned to cook. At least once a month, I would make myself Crogue Monsieur and reminisce about my days in Paris. And yes, I continue to hone my cooking skills.
As I grew older and wiser, I continued to explore other cuisines, not just for the pleasure of eating but to determine what makes it taste good, to identify the taste with my now educated palate, and to assess the synergy of flavor combination that makes it savory and distinct from other foods. Why vegetables must be cut in more ways than one for texture, appearance, and cooking methods. Know the different cuts and varieties of meat and how best to cook them to bring out the best flavor. Learn how spices and herbs enhance the taste of food. Become proficient in taming, improving, and subduing food flavors to make them agreeable. Cooking temperature is vital to stir-frying, deep frying, roasting, and baking. The importance of using the right oil, the correct cooking vessel, and, most importantly, selecting the best ingredients for the dish you are cooking to create that savory flavor that spells Umami. When cooking Osso buco, the meat of choice is veal shanks. Using other parts of the veal or other meats will dramatically alter the taste and texture of your dish. Try it and see for yourself.
Years ago, I used to take the train to work and developed friendships with a group of commuters. On Mondays, at least one or two ladies bring food to share. Mercy, one of the commuters, is learning how to cook, having been dependent on her sister, who lives with her for cooking. She has never brought food to share because she said her cooking is not up to par. On several occasions, I had invited the group to my house for a feast, inspiring the group to cook. One Monday morning, Mercy came with several containers of food to share with everyone in the group. I ask why the generosity. She cooked this dish for Sunday dinner, and her husband said,” This is delicious! this dish you can share with your friends on the train.” It’s called pride. I want to teach you how to cook so that every dish you prepare spells pride!
I hope you will enjoy my recipes. Feel free to ask me about food, flavorings, ingredients, nutrients, nutrition, and health benefits.
CIAO!