When I was a child, I ate all the dishes cooked by my grandmother. Her parents are Polish, and her mother-in-law, my grandfather's mother, is a cooking expert. She was born in Hungary and married a German. So I wrote down the whole Central/Eastern Europe. My father's mother comes from the mountains in the east of Kentucky. Although her ancestral home is Germany/Holland, we also feel a little bumpkin. Breakfast cake!
Many families in our neighborhood have Sicilian relatives, so I am familiar with them. When I was growing up, if we went out to eat, it was a special occasion, usually to the local "plaid tablecloth" Italian restaurant, so I learned to like Italian-American food (I came here and found it very different from Italian food).
So I'll start with these dishes, but they are so common that they have no special meaning, you know? The first cookbook I bought with my own money was James Beard, so I was exposed to more American cookbooks. This is very interesting.
Julia Child on TV fascinated me, so I naturally copied some of her dishes. This has led to years of obsession with cakes, all to learn French skills. It's both interesting and frustrating. It was a wonderful time. I remember that when 1978 first moved to Washington, D.C., the best place was France, where there were many bakeries specializing in pastry. Not so much now. For example, in the neighborhood where I live now, a new best bakery has opened, specializing in Guatemalan cakes. Great!
In 1970s, with the opening of Chinese mainland, food began to have more characteristics, and I like it. There are so many interesting ingredients to try and so many regional differences. Since the 1960s, Chinese food has developed rapidly in the United States (although some frozen places can still be found in the midwest).
In the 1980s, my best friend, who was born in Vietnam, began to introduce me to Southeast Asian cuisine. At that time, I was engaged in the food industry, so I felt I needed to keep up with the trend. Washington is a good place, because people from all over the world use their hometown dishes to open restaurants. So I have to learn to make a decent Thai fried powder, right?
The 1990s seemed to be the time to learn all the Mexican cuisines. Of course, I worked in a new high-end Mexican restaurant for a while, so it may have influenced my opinion. Many colleagues come from Central America and Africa, so it is interesting to experience these foods and try to replicate them. There is Gambian stewed chicken here, which is one of my favorite dishes.
I'm sorry, although I ate a lot of delicious Indian food in Washington, I never really took the time to cook. Maybe I should do it next month. ...