My Name:
Bao
Where I Live:
New York City
Where I Study:
The French Culinary Institute
My Favorite Food:
I love all kinds of food, but if I had to choose, I'd probably say Asian cuisine, especially Thai or Japanese.
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My immigrant parents always insisted that people eat to live. There was no point in eating at nice restaurants, shopping for top-notch ingredients, or telling them I preferred one dish over another. I couldn't disagree more. Food is a passion of mine, so much that I sidetracked a career and uprooted my life in the Midwest to attend the French Culinary Institute in the middle of New York City.
But let me start over. I grew up in Iowa and Minnesota eating my mom's Vietnamese home cooking--the smell of anise-spiked beef noodle soup, fresh rice noodle salads, and spicy hot pot chicken is etched in my memory. In the "land of the bland" where my friends consumed mac-and-cheese from a box, dried-out pork chops, and microwaveable meals, I wished to eat the same foods. It wasn't until college while studying to be a journalist that I missed mom's cooking. I moved to New York one summer for a magazine internship and was too poor to eat out, so I had to cook. I haven't stopped since.
I ended up chasing my other passion: writing. But even as I churned out stories for a large metropolitan daily newspaper, my dream was always to attend culinary school. Going to the grocery store and spending all day in a kitchen to prepare dinner was more love than labor. I quickly discovered that I was most happy in the kitchen. Today that obsession with food has led me to the FCI, where I hope to share some of my experience with readers. I think you'll agree that I truly live to eat.
But let me start over. I grew up in Iowa and Minnesota eating my mom's Vietnamese home cooking--the smell of anise-spiked beef noodle soup, fresh rice noodle salads, and spicy hot pot chicken is etched in my memory. In the "land of the bland" where my friends consumed mac-and-cheese from a box, dried-out pork chops, and microwaveable meals, I wished to eat the same foods. It wasn't until college while studying to be a journalist that I missed mom's cooking. I moved to New York one summer for a magazine internship and was too poor to eat out, so I had to cook. I haven't stopped since.
I ended up chasing my other passion: writing. But even as I churned out stories for a large metropolitan daily newspaper, my dream was always to attend culinary school. Going to the grocery store and spending all day in a kitchen to prepare dinner was more love than labor. I quickly discovered that I was most happy in the kitchen. Today that obsession with food has led me to the FCI, where I hope to share some of my experience with readers. I think you'll agree that I truly live to eat.