If this blog was already kinda crazy, be prepared for what’s to come LOL.
In one of my classes we need to build a blog so we can share some of our culinary discoveries. As I already had this baby, my teacher allowed me to use it to post the college assignments, which I think is great since I would do it anyways. The “obligation” of doing it for class will help to organize myself and post more frequently. And now in English too! So from now on I will try to post everything in English and Portuguese… (let’s see how it goes – hehe)
Sooo, my first assignment is to write a Culinary Biography. Here it is:
My name is Iáfa and I’m a photographer with a degree in Graphic Design and I love food. 🙂
My family does not have any real tradition when it comes to cooking. My mother and grandmothers would cook but none of them really enjoyed the culinary arts. That’s why I grew up not having any idea of how important and interesting food can be. I used to eat just for the habit and need of eating. I always loved food, but I didn’t pay real attention whether it was good or not and the consequences for my health.
In 2006 I was studying Graphic Design and, during my summer break I traveled for an exchange program in the USA in which I worked during the winter season and had the benefit of improving my English. At that time I had to choose between learning how to cook my own food or eating fast food and buying some cheap frozen meals. I started with junk and frozen food, but then my body couldn’t handle anymore… That’s when I started to cook. It was one of the biggest discoveries of my life.When I got back home to Brazil I found myself cooking more and more, not only for me but also for friends. This had become a truly pleasurable activity for me. My growing interest in the art of cooking had become, alongside with the photography, the biggest parts of my life: my job and my favorite hobby.
In 2013 I was significantly overweight, my health wasn’t good and I was getting depressed. I was in love with cooking, but still didn’t know the importance of understanding and respecting food. One day I decided to start a random diet, I was not even thinking about my health, just wanted to lose that weight. It took me 2 months to realize that any crazy diet would be a failure. What needed to be done was to understand my body, my mind and the food that was around me. That’s when I started to comprehend more the idea of balancing food, healthy eating and got even more interested in nutrition facts. One year after the beginning of this journey I had lost 24lb, and had a whole different perspective of what food is.
My hobby in the kitchen took my attention and interest in such a way that I wanted to spread the idea of flavoured and tasty food in a balanced diet with healthy ingredients. Some people don’t believe in that, but this is absolutely possible!
This blog is a space where I’m gathering all I’ve been learning from recipes, trial and error from my own creations, places I liked to visit and how I learned their culture through the food. This blog is also to share my discoveries with my dear friends and anyone interested in food. There is a Brazilian website and blog that I love from Rita Lobo, called Panelinha. It’s such a complete blog, full of good recipes and information that praises the real food as the best way of healthy eating, something that I strongly believe in.
Beautiful photos from Panelinha Blog.
Now, it’s September 2016 and I just gave another huge step in my life: I slowed down my photographer career, moved up here to Toronto and decided to learn everything I can about food in a Culinary Nutrition Program at George Brown College. The most important thing for me is to learn, understand and be a part of the culinary world and culture.This will lead me to discover the best way I can help others with an essential, but still underrated subject, such as healthy eating. If you are already a frequent visitor, thank you for reading the English part too! And if you are new here, welcome! And pardon my English, I promise to practice to get better 🙂
“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
Julia Child
ps: I’ll try to translate the older posts until all the blog is in both languages 🙂