I was fifteen years old and I worked at The Mill Restaurant in Fairview Mall as a busgirl. It was hard work, very intense and it taught me responsibility. I worked there all summer, five days a week. That job also taught me that I had no plans on becoming a career busgirl!
6. What's the one piece of foodie knowledge you would pass on to kids, and why?
Keep it simple! That's important because it makes you understand that using great ingredients and good technique will always yield great results. It doesn't have to be complicated to be good, but do start with great ingredients. I'd add that a passion for food will definitely fuel the execution of a beautiful dish.
7. What possesses you about cooking, and/or what are you most passionate about? (a method; an ingredient; a political issue; a region; a taste).
My passion is definitely the Mediterranean. The older I get, the more I recognize that these are the flavours that drive my love of food. It's also a combination of being born in Greece, studying in France, visiting Italy, and having a father that was born in Egypt. The food that grows there and how it's combined is what really continues to excite me.
8. To whom do you owe your success?
It's not one person but rather many people that I owe my success to. My father, for the genetic pre-disposition and love of cooking, both of my parents for supporting my decision to leave linguistics at university, even when they wondered "what is she doing?", and every place I've worked. It's all of these threads of experience that have helped weave the tapestry of my food knowledge today.
9. Anything else you would like CanadianLiving.com to know?
I think we're at an interesting crossroads food-wise in Canada. While more people are going for convenience with packaged food, there are also a growing number of passionate people that believe food is life, like I do. I think we can change the face of our country's culinary destiny by supporting them. It's starting to happen already. We should worry about why farmers can't support themselves or their livelihoods the way they once used to. I believe we should be supporting those that put their heart into providing good food in this country.
By joining the masses and consuming mass-produced food, we diminish the chances of people after us eating the way we once did.
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