Tag: food culture

Terri Salminen

details in Terri's kitchen

I am American born and had the great fortune of growing up in the countryside of the northern Italian region the Veneto.  I soaked up culture, friendship and love of food through my mother’s intensely social attitude and followed her to markets and into the kitchen from three years of age onward.

Terri writing in her kitchen

I first met Terri about five years ago through our connection with Jamie Oliver’s Foundation.
She is a very lovely lady impossible not to fall in love with! She is caring, gives attention to the smallest of details when dealing with people and, YES!, she is a true food lover. Did I mention what a great food photographer she is as well? You can see it all on her blog Recipe Writings – and food memories.

What is the importance of your kitchen in your house?
The kitchen is the center of the house and a favorite place to write.

What’s the best part of the day for you to cook?
I am most inspired to cook in the morning as I like to create new things during the first part of the day. Sunday is my favorite day of the week to cook, and I often make fresh pasta or something that takes time to prepare on Sunday.


Are you a creative chef or simply love to follow recipes?

I am a creative cook. I like to read recipes in order to learn. Cooking is a continuously growing process so reading recipes is like learning a new language to me. When I cook, I cook intuitively though.

Three ingredients that are never missing on your kitchen cabinet?
Extra virgin olive oil, garlic and rosemary are always in my kitchen cabinet.

How did your passion for cooking come about?
My passion for cooking comes from two sources, my mother and her love of cooking and Italy, where I grew up.

What’s your favourite dish to cook that you know it can never go wrong with it?
My favorite dish is zucchini soup. It never goes wrong and always tastes wonderful. It’s like comfort on a spoon. On the other hand, risotto and polenta never go wrong either and I love them too. And of course, I can’t live without tomato soup, tomato sauce, tomato jam. I love tomatoes!

Would you receive for a day an entire tv crew in your kitchen?
Yes, I would receive a tv crew in my kitchen and I would make them a nice lunch.

Do you follow any tv show or have a favourite cooking book?
I don’t watch cooking shows generally. I have many favorite cookbooks. Cooks I admire are Elizabeth David, Alice Waters, Nigel Slater and of course Jamie Oliver. I have many cookbooks but choose them carefully. I have just ordered Julia Child’s “The Art of French Cooking” and will read it page by page!

Terri Salminen  “I am a cook by profession and a philosopher by education. I am American born and had the great fortune of growing up in the countryside of the northern Italian region the Veneto.  I soaked up culture, friendship and love of food through my mother’s intensely social attitude and followed her to markets and into the kitchen from three years of age onward.

https://terrisalminen.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/caldogno-1966.jpg?w=672&h=505&resize=660%2C495

family portrait Terri Salminen – all rights reserved personal archive

I started cooking professionally when my first child was born. I follow the principles of the Italian kitchen, utilizing fresh, colorful and seasonal ingredients. I love to experiment with color and structure. In my cooking there is always a combination of raw and cooked, steamed or grilled, braised and stewed. I love herbs and cannot cook without olive oil, garlic and good sea salt.

I live in the Netherlands where I work as Sous Chef at Microsoft at Hutten, sometimes as private chef, give teaching classes and write about food for the Dutch edition of Jamie Magazine, on my own blog and for various special projects. My dream is to have a cooking school, open to the community, working with all generations, sharing the beauty of food.”

Regina Sader

“I grew up living in the same house with my parents, grandma and auntie. I would spend hours in the kitchen with them when my mother was working. Trying absolutely everything. The best kibbeh was made by grandma.”

heritage food

What is the importance of your kitchen in your house?
The kitchen is where everything starts. You prepare the food that gathers everyone together. It’s a huge pleasure and also therapeutical when I have the chance to cook and share such space of my life with people. I have very fond memories from my parents’ house kitchen with all those smells when my mother used to bake panettone or auntie mincing meat to prepare kibbeh for me….

What’s the best part of the day for you to cook?
I prefere to cook around lunch time. Evenings tend to be quite tiring after a long day.

Are you a creative “chef” or simply love to follow recipes?
I would say nor one or the other. Occasionally I do follow some recipes but mainly I cook what I’ve learnt from my lebanese auntie that used to live with us, from my mom and a very dear family friend that saddly is no longer here with us.

cooking books

Three ingredients that are never missing in your kitchen cabinet?
Only three?! Well I can try: I consider all kinds of herbs one ingredient like parsley, mint and basil. Then it comes parmesan cheese and wine of course. Red and white!

How did your passion for cooking come about?
From my childhood. I grew up living in the same house with my parents, grandma and auntie. I would spend hours in the kitchen with them when my mother was working. Trying absolutely everything. The best kibbeh was made by grandma. We used to have a roost in the backyard so seeing my auntie killing the chickens, cleaning and cooking them was a very normal thing for me as a child to see. I loved eating the insides auntie would feed me. On top of it, I also had a italian mother-in-law that made the best fresh pasta ever together with some exquisite sauces and roasted meats.

What’s your favourite dish to cook that you know it can never go wrong with it?
Arabic dishes are my speciality. Tabouleh, dolma, eggplant couscous and prawns, hummus. Risotto is also something I enjoy cooking. And my kids love them all.

kitchen window

Would you receive an entire tv crew in your kitchen for a day?
Why not?!

Do you follow any tv shows or have a favourite cooking book?
I don’t watch it regularly but I love Nigella Lawson’s programs. I do have her books and many others but frankly I don’t make much use of them. Pure lack of time really. I do have also one book about food in all regions in Lebanon that just the pictures are spectacular!
I will one day visit Lebanon, the country of my origins!

Regina Sader
loves to cook for family & friends when work allows. Brazilian born into a typical mixed race immigrant family. Her roots are all in her dishes with a history of food heritage many would die for to have it at home.