lucyintheskywithvegetables

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

The amazing Pressure Cooker <3

When we think about innovations always something related to the internet comes up. When starting this assignment I decided to talk about those many apps about dietaries or even about controlling the aumont of water that we drink every day. Then I started to think about my favourite kitchen wears that we have available todays. When coming to live in Canada I ran to a kitchen stuff store in Brazil to buy my favourite Pressure Pot. In Brazil they are very common, simple and cheap. I bought one in aluminium, a 4 liters pressure pot for about $10. Very affordable and essential for me, person that does not leaves without beans and chickpeas :).

In 1679 the Pressure Pot was an innovation. The French Physicist Denis Papin created the utensil thinking about using the water steam as a tool to cook hard foods. As we already know, the trapped steam increases the internal pressure and allows the temperature to rise until ebullition point and cooking  everything faster. This tool was first called as Steam Digester, and in 1681, Papin presented his invention to the Royal Society of London, which treated the invention as a scientific study allowing only Papin to become a member of the Society afterwards. Years after the invention was stoned and manufactured in cast iron by Georg Gutbrod in 1864. The Pressure Por, or Pressure Cooker had this patent done in 1918 for Jose Alix Martinez, a Spanish cooker which also published a book full of recipes to be made using this pot. Todays the Pressure Cooker is easily founded in every kitchen all around the world.

   In the beginning using the Pressure Cooker safely was an issue. But little by little I got acquainted with the tool, and todays imagine cooking without it is simply impossible. The Pressure Cooker is also an important tool in professional kitchens because increase the timing managing. Is a fundamental wear to every professional cooker. With all the innovations, nowadays, you can even find electronic Pressure Cookers. 

About my opinion about it? Well, I like to use the Old School one and get crazy with the noise until opening the lid - safely, of course! - and seeing beautiful beans being ready to eat! :) 

Research:

http://www.deejay.it/news/cara-pentola-a-pressione/353525/

http://discoverpressurecooking.com/history.html

Images: Google

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

A vegan week :)

It's been a long time that i am vegetarian. And sometimes increase this challenge to the veganism is something that occurs to me. In this way to this blog submission I have decided to be Vegan for one week and be challenged to not eat dairy products, eggs, and even more: not wearing leather shoes and do not use any kind of non vegan beauty product.

I can start saying that even for a vegetarian person it was a challenge since I can't live without cheese, milk and eggs. But I have made some substitutions in my daily menu that I suggest for any of you that decide to become a Vegan. I usually eat the same thing at home, since I like to cook once in a week, but I also like to eat out of home and this was quite challenging. So I equilibrate my suggestions during this week:

Everyday Breakfast:

Banana Smoothie + almond Milk + Oat Meal + Soaked Chia Seeds

One slices of whole wheat  bread with Strawberry jam 

Water and Coffee 

- Here you can make your own Almond milk to substitute the regular milk. To do it is simple: Wash the almond and let them soak in water over night. After that drain the water and take the remaining membrane off the almonds. Blend them with a bit of water and strain using a cheesecloth -.

Lunch:

In the days that I ate at home:

Salad: Romaine + Tomatoes + Olive Oil + salt 

Main Course: Brown Rice or Sautée Potatoes + Black Beans + Broccoli e Zucchini Salad + Sautée Mushrooms 

One day I got lunch at Freshii which is a good spot for Vegan food, and another at Wanda's Pie in the Sky at Kensington Market. 

I had Indian Food class in Food's of the World course and I was lucky because we made vegetarian and vegan food which was super delicious!

Snacks:

I had fruits, a vegan ice cream at Baskin Robbins one day - yes, they have it! - and a Garlic Knot from my workplace that I made without cheese, but with tones of garlic <3. Plain homemade Popcorn is also another good healthy and vegan snack :).

Dinner:

I had a carrot and ginger soup + salad everyday, because I bought fresh organic veggies at the St. Lawrence Market this week and they were simply delicious!

Besides that I had vegan pizza for two days, since I work in the North of Brooklyn Pizzeria and we can substitute the regular mozzarella cheese for the Daya vegan Cheese - yes, this one I don't recommend, as chefs we need to develop better vegan cheeses, eh?

For the Summer time I developed a recipe that has proteins, carbs and fibres combined, very good to carry with yourself to have for lunch or dinner and it is very balanced meal to eat :).

Recipe:

Quinoa and Lentils Tabule

200gr White Quinoa

100gr Lentils

10g Parsley - roughly chopped

80g Red Onions - small dice

80g Cucumbers - small dice

20ml Lime Juice

Olive oil and Salt to taste

1. Cook the quinoa in a pot with 300gr of cold water and salt for 15 minutes;

2. Cook the lentils in a pot with 500gr of cold water, salt and some drops of lime until soften (aprox. 25 minutes). Strain it.

3. Place in a bowl the quinoa + lentils + onions + cucumbers + parsley and season with the lime juice, olive oil and salt. Serve it cold.

Well, being a chef and being Vegan is very delicate. I can say that being Vegetarian stills delicate. To be a 100% chef you need to understand all the processes and, also, understand how to process food. Personally I have Butchery classes, but I have to do it. I'm not sure how a Vegan person would deal with that. Is always good work in a place that you enjoy to prepare the food. Love is the most important ingredient that you can put in any meal.

I'll try to eat less eggs and dairy products, but probably I won't be completely Vegan because I really miss those ingredients and I need to have those choices of protein in my dietary. I believe that we don't have too many options of Vegan things with an amazing taste - sorry vegan friends :( - so it will be hard becoming a Vegan.

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

Straw<3erries!

Last year on Summer I was invited for a friend to try Blueberry Picking at Andrew's Scenic Acres, a Farm located roughly 60 minutes from Toronto, at Milton (you can see all about this experience here). When choosing a place to visit to the new blog research for Theory of Food II I have decided to try something different, but having here my - c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y passionate for strawberry - parents from Brazil choosing Andrew's Farm again was my destiny. I saw in my dad’s eyes all the happiness that he has when telling stories about his childhood in the South of Brazil. I had the chance to try a little bit of it going to my grandma’s ranch when I was little too. In this day I was also accompanied by my friend and colleague at George Brown Gabriel. We have decided to take our Sunday to spend the day together having some fun to do this assignment.

This time I had the opportunity to ask a little bit more about the farm to the farmers and employees. Andrew's Scenic Acres Belongs to a couple: Bert and Lauraine grew in Canada and had the same love for farming. Both attended the Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph, so in this way they already had some expertise in farming when starting in the beginning of the 1980's the Andrew’s Scenic Farm. Since then, besides producing a number of varieties of fruits and flowers they created the famous (Your Own) Berry Picking for the local families have the opportunity to have fun in the weekends without going out to Milton’s area. Todays the farm receives visitors from all the country and also international guests.

The most interested thing that I have learned this time is about how nature and men's work have to walk together. Emily and Joe, one of the employees  ( the main couple wasn't there This Sunday :( ) were explaining to me that my strawberries - those that you can see in my basket - were planted last year. They survive all the seasons, including the Winter - when they are most likely covered by snow - to grow by the beginning of the Summer. During all the year the farmers take care of the soil to get everything ready in the right seasons. All the products grow organically (so yes, I picked tons of Strawberry and now I have it freezed to do my own jam, smoothies and juices along the year, because they are ORGANIC <3). Andrew’s Farm belongs to the Green Belt of Ontario which works following the manners respecting a sustainable environment.

Usually strawberries grow in short bushes close to the soil. Besides it the farm also produces Asparagus, Rhubarb, Blueberries (They are going to be ready to pick in August! Yammy!), Apples, Corn, Squash, Pumpkins, Cherries, Sunflowers, Peonies, and they also produce their own wine. All the products can be also purchased in the Farm. By the end of the tour you can try and buy some of those products in a small farm store. You can learn a bit more about the farm and follow their picking schedule at www.andrewsscenicacres.com.

Font: http://www.andrewsscenicacres.com/. Pictures by me ;).

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

Saturday Steak :)

 As a vegetarian person I am a really UFO in my family. My background is German, and German people in Brazil eats lots of meat. My father does the best barbecue in the world and I am not the only one to tell you that. He has some other fans also and he does an amazing braised cheese for me :). For this task I have been chosen the simple Steak because every week, specially on Saturdays, my mom does our family lunch and we usually have the same dish, which is a Brazilian speciality: Steak, French Fries, Rice, Beans and Farofa ( Brazilian flour made from manioc). Even without eating the stake having it is a way to be next to my people <3.

This is my father starting the barbecue. He always tests the heat with cheap cuts as sausages.

The recipe that I have chosen to reproduce is a little bit boring since I do not use to cook meat. I made the classic NY Strip Steak with fries in my GB lab classes and I had a good result. Usually, Veal and Beef Steaks comes from the Sirlloin, but in this case comes from the Short Loin. The are both close parts of the cow, which means it is usually a Primal Cut. It is a muscle - that can be cut into large portions -  that does not moves a lot resulting in a meat particularly tender. A good meat comes from a cattle raised in farms where the animals can live in free spaces and being feed by the greens that grow in a good soil.

In Toronto those NY Strip Steaks can be found in standard supermarkets as Loblaws and Metro or in specialized butchery places like St. Lawrence Market. They are sold for around 9 dollars. Being an expensive cut, is always good research about some preparation before doing it to not waste it. Usually Steaks are the principal ingredient in plates and they are very common in a Menu. Being the most important role of the dish sides like fries and vegetables fit well complementing and making the Steak more valuable and delicious. 

Usually, the secret of having a nice steak is control the temperature when cooking. The Maillard Reaction, which is the reaction that produces the 'carmelization' or the browning thing in the meat, is a must have in the Steak preparation to point the flavours and give a nice color to the meat. To have it as a final result, is essential to cook it in a very hot pan (preheated), and after leave it to cook until medium rare for about 5 minutes in medium heat (achieving 135F). 

Whenever is the side, I strongly recommend you to first marinate your steak, and after grill it in pan following this recipe:

Ingredients:

1 steak (8oz) NY Strip Steak

1 pc Garlic Cloved - minced

2g Rosemary - roughly chopped

2g Thyme - roughly chopped

15g Veggie oil

Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Preparation:

In a bowl add all the ingredients and half of the Oil. Let it marinate for 20 minutes.

Preheat a grilled pan in high flame heat for around 4 minutes and fry in medium heat the Steak sealing both sides, each one for about 2 minutes. 

Check the temperature with thermometer. To achieve the medium rare point the internal temperature must reach 135F.

My sides here were French Fries and Compound Butter, but usually steaks go well with special rices and also veggies.

Pictures: Google and Personal Achieve.

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

Blog Submission # 5 - Fruit Hunting, My Blueberry Summer

Some months ago I went in a Farm located at north of Toronto in a small city called Milton to a Berry Picking. I really love nature and berries, so a Canadian friend told me about the picking thing and invited me to go with her. We went in this farm and we picked yummy blueberries. Is amazing how you can choose one by one, carefully, and for how long really fresh fruits can rest in your fridge after. I ate blueberries for over a month and they were more and more delicious.

I'm afixionated for berries in general. I can't explain exactly why, I think is because of the flavour and something about their delicate shape and bright colour. In my country Berries just grow in the South and they are very expensive. When I was a child my grandma used to live in a mini farm in the South and she used to have a tiny raspberry tree. Being in the farm was also something about revisiting my childhood.

Blueberries are perennial flowering plants with ian amazing blue-purpleish colorur. They belong from the section Cyanococcus within the genus Vaccinium - siblings of cranberries, bilberries and grouseberries. Those fruits are native from North America, and surreptitiously they were not introduced into Europe until the 1930s. They are harvesting from June to August in the North of the globe turning them a Summer fruit. In the South of the globe, mostly, they are harvesting from October to February, when is also summer. Native species of blueberries are grown commercially in the Southern Hemisphere in Australia, New Zealand and South American nations also. British Columbia is well known as the biggest producer of Blueberries here in Canada. Here in Toronto you can buy a box for $3 out of season and even chipper in the summer. In places like the Berry Picking farm that I went a very big basket of recently picked berries can be afforded by $5. :)

Blueberries taste like heaven, but speaking in the Sensory Evaluation format they have a blue-purpleish colour and they are tiny, and soft when your carry them, so you have to be careful when you carry them to don't smash them. They have a smooth flesh and a gelatinous texture inside. Their smelt delicately and sweet. They taste are sweet and a little bit bitter sometimes, reminds me like eating a very soft strawberry with a grape texture.

If I was cook Berries, I can think firstly in a Crumbled Muffin. I did not do it yet, but I've been researching about it and I really want to do the Raiza's Costa recipe from GNT, a Brazilian website called GNT (http://gnt.globo.com). If you wanna try, you can follow the recipe here:

Ingredients:

to do the Muffin:

300g All propose flour

5g Baking Soda

50g Oats

150g Demerara Sugar

2 Whole eggs

60ml Coconut Oil

250g Yogurt

100g Blueberries

Grated flesh Lime 

to the Crumble:

50g Cold Butter

25g Demerara Sugar

25g Almond Flour

25g All propose flour

Cinnamon to taste

How to do it:

Crumble:

Add in a bowl the Almond Flour + All propose flour + Demerara Sugar + Butter + Cinnamon mix it with your hands until turns a crumbled flour.

Muffin:

1. Prepare the baking pan with butter and all propose flour.

2. In a bowl add the all propose flour + sugar + baking soda + oats and mixed

3. In another bowl add the whole eggs + lime flesh + yogurt + coconut oil and whisk it until gets and uniform an fluffy shape. Add the flour + sugar + oats  + baking soda and mix it very slowly, delicately.

4. Toss the blueberries in all purpose flour then place them in the dough. Transfer them in the baking sheet and place the crumble on top.

5. Put in a pre heat oven at 180C for 18 minutes

Being in a Berry Picking was magical. I came back to my Childhood for one hour and I felt my grandma (who passed away three years ago) just by my side. It was a beautiful and peaceful sunny day. I never tasted fresh blueberries before and it was amazing. I learned that fresh fruits rest longer and also have better flavour. I strolgy recommend all of you to go to a Fruit Picking in this next Summer. To know more about it you can reach ttp://ontario.farmvisit.com/.

Pics: Me and GNT's Website.

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

Theory of Food #4: Doing (and preserving) one of my favourite foods in the world! <3

I think that is a family thing. Even my little nephew who is 3 years old like those strong things that we can pickle. For a blog assignment I have chosen to pickle cucumbers, my favourite ones. My grandma used to do it when I was little because she had a friend who used to plant it. 

When you are pickling you preserve and let some tastes of the raw product stronger than before. The process also allows the product to rest longer. Pickling is an ancient technique, is a process when you choose a food and soak it in liquids, solutions that help prevent spoilage. There are two ways to do the pickling: One is using acids and other is with using the fermentation. Both preserve the food. I chose to work with the first one and in my recipe the process was made using vinegar - he acid -, salt and sugar, basically. But I also tested before work with the fermentation doing vinegar and is also very interesting. Maybe I'll post later the vinegar recipe too :). So let's focus in the delicious pickles that I made, eh? :)

To do it is very simple and quick and you can have your pickles ready in three days. This recipe is from Rita Lobo's book named 'Panelinha'. This recipe renders 2 medium Mason Jars.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar

1 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons of salt

400gr of cucumbers

2 tablespoons of fresh ginger puree 

1 chilli pepper

3 tablespoons of olive oil 

2 garlic cloves smashed

Preparation:

1. Wash the cucumbers in cold water. Cut it like you want or let it hole, but in a good size to fit in the jar. Wash the Chilli Pepper also.

2. In a pot place the vinegar, the sugar, the salt and simmer in low heat. When boils, turn the stove off.

3. Add in the pot the cucumbers, the ginger, the chilli pepper (whole), the garlic (peeled and smashed) , and the olive oil.

4.  Place the mix in a clean and sterilized jar - se how to do it bellow and tide the lid immediately. You can leave it out of the fridge. The Pickle will be ready in three days for consumption. 

To clean and sterilize the jars:

You don't need to buy new jars, you can use ones from products that are already over in you house :). In my case I used empty mason jars that I bought with tomato sauce before. However, you always have to sterilize them. This process is very simple and only requires patience. Wash the jars with soap first, when clean, put in a big pot with water - until cover it - and let it boil for at least for 15 minutes. The lids also have to be in there. After that, don't touch the jars with your hands - you don't wanna contaminate it again neither burn your hands, right? -. Use tongs and clean cloths to help you touch it. Let it cool and place the pickles inside until almost full the jar letting only a small space of air. Place the lid right after. This is help in the vacuum process occur to preserve  even more your food.

After ready you can appreciate your pickles wherever you want. I strongly recommend it in burgers ( so classic!) and salads. 

In this recipe the pickles in the end of the process are a little bit sour because of the acid (vinegar), but also a little bit sweet because of the sugar giving an equilibrate taste. The seasoning with ginger, garlic and peppers make this recipe very special because add different flavours in your mouth. The freshness of the ginger is equilibrate with the strong piking of the chilli pepper. The result is a different pickle with strong, but equilibrate flavours.

The only different thing that I will do in my next experience picking cucumbers is placing more cucumbers inside of the jars, because they loose water and shrink, so after some days I had room left in the jar. This is not a problem, but if you wanna give it or sell it to somebody is good to see the jars fully of this yummy pickle! <3 I just loved to do it and I will do it many times again!

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

I have posted on my Instagram my pic with the Grapefruit without saying my friends that I did not like it and more than 5 people did not like also. Ok, it sims that I am not an UFO! :~

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

Theory of Food #3: There is always a first time for everything...

In this week the proposal post was about tasting a new food. Without planning it, I went in a very good place to take a Brunch with a friend and David because we were crazy about pancakes, well, I was :). When I saw the menu of the Eggexpectation ( a very nice place near City Hall on Bay St.) I was surprised: Beyond the pancakes I was just about to realize another dream: having a good real fruit juice again :). I have been missing a lot some fruits. This week I desired guava juice so much... But real guava juice, not that industrialized thing that they sell on Mexican places here in Toronto. So I've decided to choose a berry juice. When my plate arrived, besides the pancakes, perfect eggs and delicious potatoes a small portion of Grapefruits came on tiny and beautiful slices. I was happy because was another fruit than the usual berries - that I also love and are so expensive in Fortaleza -, and suddenly I remembered that I should try something new and relate here my experience. Grapefruit sounded perfect of it! And it was also my first time with them. Besides, it has a beautiful combination of colours. Some people say that colour is very important when you try food and I agree. I can't live without a rainbow in my life.

This is a Grapefruit! Beautiful colours, eh? Pic from Google Images.

This is me before my disappointment :~. Pic by David.

- The funny thing about the Grapefruit is that they are sweet, but not sour. So they are very different than those very citric and refreshable fruits like oranges, tangerines and lime. Yes, is good but not umame. Maybe I should try with another flavours together giving a second chance to it shine.

- Their smelt are very good and fresh, Grapefruits are firm and full of juice, but when you bite it is not that awesome thing. Is like a food when is missing some seasoning which stands out the flavour.

- The Grapefruit tastes like an orange after taking half of the fresh taste, taking off the sour flavour, and adding a lot of sugar. It tastes like something flavoured, kinda fake.

- This fruit is very unique, I never tried something like that before because when a fruit is citric is almost always very sour and in this case it is not, because is very light and sweet.

- Well, when I tried my piece of Grapefruit I was expecting something similar than a orange, very citric and sweet at the same time, a strong and delicious sparkling flavour. But I was disappointed. Grapefruit does not have the same freshness as oranges. 

- I learnt that sometimes what you expect is different and also that many fruits have to be combined with another ones to be better. I enjoyed trying it and since then I've been thinking how to do it even better, so yes, I wanna try it again in a different combination. 

- In my next time tasting something I will try to have lower expectations - which is very hard, because food for me is something very serious :). But this experience did not change anything about my tasting thing. I always like to eat new things slowly, and trying to discover some hidden flavour. Some months ago, for example, I tried a tomato sauce in a restaurant back home and I discovered a very light cinnamon taste on it. Since then I have been adding cinnamon in my tomato sauce and is it extremely delicious! Is perfect to have with zucchini lasagna. Hummm! :)

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

Theory of Food #2: Soups & Stocks & Winter

- When we talk about soups I always remember my mom doing big pots of soup in the winter. For me a soup always have to taste wonderfully and give that hugging feeling to you. Is a comfy food for those cold and lazy days or an awesome option to have as a dinner. My mom's Green Soup has potato as base and is extremely delicious! One funny thing about all of it is that I used to live in a whole year summer city and we were all anxious for the winter aka rainy time to have mom’s soup. Being here now and eat this soup in the winter gives me more comfort and good memories than doing it in there.

- The recipe for this soup is very simple. First, you are going to cook potato in a vegetable classic stock that you have to prepare before. These are the proportions to the Veggie Stock and the Green Soup (serves 6 portions):

To the Vegetable Stock (prepare it first):

2 litres of cold water

500 gr Mire Poix ( 250gr onions, 125gr carrots, 125gr celery)

1 Spice Bag ( 1 Bay Leaf, 10 smashed peppercorns, parsley stems, ½ thyme teaspoon)

It cannot boil. Just steam it in for 30-45 minutes and drain it after.

To the soup:

2 litres of veggie stock

1,5 kg baking potatoes (peeled and in medium dice size)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves (fine sliced)

350gr cabbage leaf (fine sliced)

1 tbsp Liquid Smoke

How to do it:

Cook the potatoes in the veggie stock, simmering it for 30 minutes. 

In a pan braise in the olive oil two garlic cloves fine sliced.

Insert the garlic in the pot and let it cook for 10 minutes. Smash everything with a potato smasher inside of the same pot. Boil it for ten minutes, insert the Cabbage Leaves and the Liquid Smoke. Seasoning with black peppers and salt.

To serve put some veggie bacon bits on the top.

- The criteria to having a good standard soup is having thickness coming from the extraction of some substances from the bones. In the case, this Green Soup was done in a veggie way and the potatoes gave the necessary thickness into the plate. This soup is a purée and it is not clarified.

- My husband David tried and really like it. He taught that it was warm enough and he did not feel the fault of the meat. 

- I never did this recipe by myself before and it was challenging. Doing it was being next to my family which is far away. I have changed some points that used to include meat sources for another source of protein because I am veggie. I think that the Liquid Smoke and the bacon bits were a good option. I had to substitute the seasonings to bring another complementary flavours. So I added some black pepper. My mom does not like to use pepper in her recepies. It was very tasty and comfy, almost like being besides her :).

*take this soup listening the “La La Land” Soundtrack at Spotify :).

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

This post is especially for you, who keeps asking me what I eat. Yes, I am very healthy and happy without meat. My advice? You should try at least one veggie or vegan meal per week. Is very tasty! :)

-

Esse post é especial pra você, amigo não vegetariano/vegano que vive me perguntando o que eu como :p. Meu conselho? Você deveria tentar ao menos uma vez por semana ter uma refeição veggie/vegan. Pode ser uma comidinha muito da gostosa, viu? :)

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

Last week I learnt how to cut veggies properly :). It simms very easy, but is not. This is very important fro who will eat it your food: The size of the veggies determines its cooking, flavour and, in summary, is very important to the client`s experience. Chef told me that my Brunnoise is very cute. I agree with him! :)

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

Theory of Food #1

Seeing the older post you probably know my name: Is Carol. And I have to say something very akward about me: I am almost a veggie person. At 5 years old I have decided to stop eating meat (red or white). My mom says that suddenly I started do stop eating it. Luckly at my house salad never was an issue like other aliments. My family likes to eat everything and we really love lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli and this kind of stuff. So she respected my choice and seeing that I did not stop to eat other sources of vitamins, proteins an carbohydrates that I was having good meals to my system. Nowadays I barely eat meat. I like to eat hamburgers. I do not why, and do not ask me it because I do not have a good answer for you. 

After seeing some docs about Vegetarian Life I have decided to eat it even less and start to present a great veggie food to my friends - in Brazil eat veggie food is always a big deal. There is a lot of preconception about it in there. Bela Gil (belagil.com.br), a Brazilian cooker always inspires me with her organically and veggie kitchen. Rita Lobo (panelinha.ig.com.br), another Brazilian famous cooker also has a way to cook simply and good which is also very important in my opinion. But Julia Child is one of my favourite cookers in the world just because she was herself in the kitchen. Fearless, she showed to the world that there is no age to start cooking and work with it. 

I never worked at the food industry formally, but I always did food for everybody. Parties, dinners and happy times with food are my speciality. I really like to see the joy in the eyes of the people eating my dishes ( Did you ever see the Hundred-Foot Jouney movie? Is something about it! ). I had some experience at a friend catering enterprise in Brazil and work for 12 hours straight on foot is my speciality. A fashion producer routine is very similar to a cooker one. So hello crazy days for me. And I am happy with that! :) - -

Se você acompanhou o post anterior você já sabe meu nome: É Carol. E eu tenho que confessar algo bem estranho sobre mim: Eu sou uma quase-vegetariana. Me considero veggie, mas alguns amigos ainda insistem que não sou. Com uns 5 anos de idade eu decidi ir parando de comer carne aos poucos. Quando eu digo carne é tudo: vermelha ou branca. Minha mãe diz que de repente eu fui parando e como a nossa alimentação em casa sempre foi cheia de saladas e nós sempre brigamos por alface e quiabo que ela não se preocupou pois sabia que eu tinha uma dieta cheia de nutrientes e vitaminas e tinha proteína de outros alimentos para compensar a falta da carne. Hoje em dia eu quase não como carne. Em salvas exceções como hamburgers. Porque gosto deles? Não sei explicar. E não são todos e cada vez mais tenho comido veggie burgers - que decidiram aparecer nos menus aí do Brasil há pouco tempo.

Depois de ver alguns documentários sobre o Vegetarianismo eu escolhi comer menos ainda carne. O que era pouco ou quase nada virou vezes contadas nos dedos de uma mão. E ainda me propus um desafio de apresentar minha comida deliciosa e vegetariana para meus amigos, já que ser vegetariano em terras tupiniquins é comer só alface e comida sem gosto para muitos deles. Bela Gil e Rita Lobo sempre me inspiraram muito. Uma por sua forma orgânica de cozinhar e a outra pela simplicidade da comida gostosa do dia a dia, mas Julia Child é uma das minhas chefs favoritas de todo o mundo apenas por ser ela mesma dentro da cozinha. Sem medo de ser feliz ela mostrou ao mundo que não existe idade se a questão é aprender a cozinhar e se você também quer trabalhar com isso.

Eu nunca trabalhei na indústria da comida formalmente, mas sempre fiz comida pra todo mundo. Festas, jantares, encontrinhos felizes são a minha especialidade. Eu gosto mesmo é de ver a alegria nos olhos de quem sente todo o amor que coloquei naquele prato (Você já viu o filme Hundred-Foot Journey? É mais ou menos isso…). Eu tive alguma experiência na empresa de comida de uma amiga querida no Brasil e trabalhar doze horas seguidas em pé sem ter tempo de pensar em fazer xixi é minha especialidade. Sabe aquela minha rotina de Produtora de Moda? Pois é, tipo isso. Então “Nhaem!” dias lotados pra mim! E o pior mesmo é que eu gosto! 

[lucyintheskywithvegetables]

Hello!

Hi, my name is Carol and this is part of an assignment for a Theory of Food course at George Brown College. I am Brazilian, and I am 31. This is not my first major - I did Fashion University and Communication Post Graduation and I am still working with it in Brazil - , but is an old passion. Cooking for me is part of my routine. Is part of a happy moment of my days. Everything started when I was a child and my mom decided to learn how to cook properly. Nobody borns just cooking and in some way you have to learn. In her way she had four children to feed and a passion for flavours :), so since I was born we are all around the kitchen chatting, laughing and also cooking. I cannot remember my first time doing something. Probably my first meal was a breakfast: toasters and black coffee, my parents favourite. My mom also teached me how to organize the kitchen and have a routine to cook and clean everything at the same time. When I am in doubt about something I just call her to ask and is always a way to learn something new. Do a graduation on Culinary was a dream that I never thought that I would have time to complete in this life, but my husband and I have decided to try something new and have an international experience and a way to get it was start studying again. And I am loving. I know that when you deeply love something you also hate a little bit, but deal with recipes is the same thing to deal with fashion productions: Is all about jumping in a world of creativity which makes me feel the happiest person in the world!

This is me in my GBC uniform, Fancy, eh? :p / Euzinha no meu uniforme do college. E aí, combina? :p

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Oi Pessoal, meu nome é Carol e esse blog faz parte de uma disciplina de Teoria da Comida na George Brown College aqui em Toronto, no Canadá. Como vocês sabem, eu sou brasileira e tenho 31 anos de idade. Isso não é minha primeira formação - eu fiz bacharelado em Moda e pós graduação em Comunicação e sim, eu continuo trabalhando normalmente aí no Brasil nas minhas atividades de sempre -, mas é uma paixão antiiiiga! Cozinham sempre fez parte da minha rotina e sempre foi uma parte feliz do meu dia. Tudo começou quando eu era criança e minha mãe decidiu começar a arriscar a fazer coisas mais gostosas e elaboradas. Ninguém nasce já cozinhando e de alguma forma você tem uma motivação pra ir aprendendo. No caso da mamãe acho que o fato de ter quatro filhos pra alimentar e amar sentir sabores diferentes fez o grande boom pra tudo começar. Então desde que eu nasci o negócio é viver na cozinha seja pra conversar, pra rir e até mesmo para cozinhar :). Eu não consigo lembrar a primeira vez que fiz algo sozinha, mas deve ter sido provavelmente um café da manhã pros meus pais num domingo qualquer: café passadinho e pão na chapa, nossos favoritos. Minha mãe me ensinou que além de cozinhar você precisa ir organizando tudo: ir lavando a louça e tendo uma ordem a seguir de tudo na cabeça, assim fica mais fácil e quando você acaba de cozinhar já tá tudo arrumadinho :). Quando eu tenho dúvida o que eu faço? Eu ligo pra ela, é claro! e ela sempre tá lá pra responder. Fazer uma nova graduação, dessa vez em Culinária é um sonho que nunca achei que teria tempo pra realizar nessa vida, mas meu marido e eu queríamos ter uma experiência morando fora do país e uma maneira que a gente encontrou de encarar esse sonho dentro da lei era comigo estudando de novo :). E eu sou amando. Eu amo ser estudante... É claro que tudo que a gente ama demais a gente também odeia demais às vezes, mas assim é a vida, né mesmo? Mas lidar com receitas pra mim é que nem lidar com minhas produções de moda: É sobre mergulhar num mundo de criatividade e me perder lá dentro com tantas possibilidades e cores e é o que me faz ser a pessoa mais feliz do mundo todo :).