Welcome!

 Greetings and welcome to The Home Gastronomist. Oxford defines gastronomy as "the practice or art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food". I am just a home cook who has learned a thing or two over the years about making delicious stuff at home. It took me a long time to realize that there is a distinct method to every step of the madness that goes into making an awesome dish, from selecting ingredients to the type of pan I cook in. It is not all luck or skill: some of it is just science. Understanding the basic chemistry behind a combination of foods, textures and temperatures can make an impact in the overall product. I want to share this information in a non-stuffy way: through the eyes of a fellow home cook.

Many people have given me feedback stating that they could never make these sorts of dishes at home in response to my Instagram posts or lunches packed for work. I am starting this blog with a certain objective in mind: I want novice home cooks (and soon-to-be-former noncooks) to see that cooking does not have to be intimidating. We are going to cover techniques related to food preparation of all kinds, but I also want to help readers learn about why a dish comes together as well as it does. In turn, this blog may help you to be more intentional in your selection of ingredients and gadgetry. Not sure which tools and gadgets to splurge on or stay thrifty with? We'll talk about that. Is a high-price, premium product really superior over the store brand? Maybe... It's going to depend on a few things.

 I want to talk about all of these elements of cooking by framing the information around recipes. No dreamy novellas preceding the content that the reader actually came here for: just the relevant information, a good recipe, and hopefully you also will learn something new along the way!

So thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll check back again soon.

Lauren