About

Chef Al Dente

The Inception: How it started...

Piscean by birth, I am a very imaginative, compassionate and sensitive being. I love anything and everything that motivates me creatively. But to ruin it all I am extremely Lazzzzzzy...! Blogging doesn't really seem to be my kind of thing, frankly speaking.I have barely started and I am already lost at what to write next :D

So without dragging this any further; the idea to start a food blog was planted in my head by my hubby 'the dearest'. He had quite a few blogs of his own and I think he is a fabulous blogger. He feels this is a good way of developing a hobby (since I don't have any!) and spending my time (which I have lots at the moment...) more creatively. And thus, I begin my journey into blogging (I am hoping it will not end up as a short journey!).

The Title: What's in the name... 

When I told my hubby that my blog will be called 'Chef Al dente', he gave me a quizzical expression (something that reads - what on earth is that supposed to mean?!!!). And I explained: Al dente is a term used while cooking Italian pasta, which means the pasta is cooked just right with a slight hint of rawness to it (Not Kaccha nor Pakka). I am a cook who is pretty good but still there's a lot to learn and improve (Not Kaccha nor Pakka - get it??). And hence, I call myself Chef Al dente (Ta da!!).

I hope it is convincing enough for you! My hubby keeps pestering me to change the title because he still thinks it doesn't make any sense at all. Well, who needs 'sense, sensibility and sensitivity' (Yep! I am from Kerala and this is one of my favourite Mammootty dialogues) while writing a blog; surely not me!

The Content: What this blog is about...

As you would have noticed by now, I have an abrupt writing style...lot of unrelated thoughts keep gushing through my head which comes out in different paragraphs of my writing (Hopefully I can get this straight soon!). So that's probably something you can expect when you go through my blog. There may not be any definite logic in the content but I intend to develop this into a blog where I can discuss with you my thoughts, theories and facts related to Food; not necessarily just recipes. 

By the way, I am a Food Technologist by profession (Oh! before you actually jump to the conclusion that since I work in Food I would be an awesome cook...let me stop you right there!). Food Safety is one of my professional interests and I hope to share useful information on that as well. I also want this blog to be a collection of the various recipes I have tried out over a period of time - mostly from other blogs/sites (That I absolutely adore!) and also few of my own (Yea, me not very creative in the cooking department; mostly rely on others recipes).

It has happened to me quite often that I try a recipe and it becomes a huge hit. All's well while I revel in the lavish praises and accolades I receive. But then when demands for 'encore' come in...errr...I have absolutely no clue which blog/ site I got the recipe from (does that happen to you??). So I go to my ever faithful friend 'Google' and desperately try to find the same link. I usually don't find it and my friend makes random suggestions for the same recipe. I choose a new site and try the same dish. The result? It doesn't turn out well!! So disappointing and embarrassing :(  I then decided to save the links that I have tried and succeeded but I never bothered organizing them. So it all piled up and didn't do me any good. Hence, through this blog I hope to compile some of the tried and tested recipes (that have worked for us) which will also introduce you to some amazing blogs/sites that have no dearth of ideas! For these recipes, you can always find the link to the actual site so that you can browse through them as well.

The Food Photography: Food captured on this blog...

My hubby's hobby is photography and he is very passionate about it (How I envy him for that!). The moment he takes the camera in hand, he is lost in a world of his own.  He does a stunning job of it, I have to admit (Photo enthusiasts are welcome to visit his official FB page. Thumbs Up if you like!). When he gave me the idea for this blog, I thought I will do my own photography. My reference for the basics was the article by Nags on Edible Garden which totally inspired me! For the first couple of dishes that I tried for the sake of photography, I realized (after having held the camera for barely 15 mins!) that it is not my cup of tea. Instead, I found out that what interested me more was food styling itself. Coordinating and matching colourful bowls and arranging food turned out to be much more creative than I thought! I still manage to take photos of my creations with my Panasonic Lumix digicam (except for the first few posts which are taken by my hubby).

The Comments: You to me...

What is any blog without feedback eh? I must confess I would be quite ecstatic if I get even one person to follow my blog (I do have 'high' hopes you see...hehe). So all your comments and reviews are always welcome. Of course, it goes without saying that disrespectful and indecent comments will not be entertained. I always appreciate 'positive' criticism as it helps me to improve. But before you start to criticize my work, please do bear with me for a while as I am totally new to blogging and as of now, have no clue what I am up to next :D

You may also contact me at chefaldente@rocketmail.com

So welcome to my World of Food...Hope you have a fun ride!!