This is my cooking website. I started over 25 years ago to teach myself how to cook and then share everything I've learned with my readers. It is a labor of love, and I learn something new to share with you every day. There is always something interesting to learn, from cooking techniques to essential cookware & gadgets to new recipes to photography.
Thanks for sharing this journey with me, and please share this page with friends and family who enjoy good food and culinary pleasures.
Who is the Reluctant Gourmet?
The Reluctant Gourmet may sound like a professional chef or cooking expert who knows what he’s talking about. Still, truthfully, I’m just another home cook wading through the culinary trenches, trying not to get lost. It all started back in my New York City days.
By day, I was a typical Wall Street bond broker out there to make the almighty buck, but on nights and weekends, it was all about being in the kitchen with some decent wine, good food, and friends.
Early on, I learned that I enjoy good food. So, either I would have to make a ton of money to go out and pay for expensive meals night after night, or I would have to learn to cook these meals myself. After being inspired by many talented girlfriends, I taught myself how to cook.
No culinary school; no cooking classes
There was no fancy kitchen. Some days were triumphs in the kitchen, and others just...weren’t. My method back then was to learn from my mistakes, and it still is to this day.
I discovered I could make great, restaurant-quality food at home for a lot less money than eating out. It probably won’t happen every night, but occasionally, you’ll make one of those “as good as it gets” meals.
One crucial thing I learned back then that still holds true today is that gourmet food is more about finding the freshest, best-quality ingredients available, cooking them properly, and keeping it simple. As one of my old girlfriends used to say, “Less is more.”
Why Build a Web site?
When I first began cooking, cookbooks confused me. I would read a recipe and not have a clue what some of the cooking terms meant—deglaze, fond, julienne—and have to look them up. This was before everything was on the Internet.
Professionals wrote these cookbooks and cooking magazines I depended on, and I don't think they were interested in the Novice home cook.
The website idea came to me while I was working on Wall Street. I needed an outlet from the everyday stress of working in a hostile environment. I decided to build the Reluctant Gourmet website for two reasons: to keep track of what I was learning and to help other home cooks who had trouble understanding recipes.
I would force myself to learn and research everything about a recipe and then rewrite it in my everyday, common language for others to enjoy. Over the years, the Reluctant Gourmet has been providing cooking techniques, recipes, how-tos, cookbooks, ingredient information, culinary school information, professional chef interviews, and more. I share it with you as I learn, so we learn together.
Why “Reluctant?”
So why do I call myself reluctant? When I first started cooking, I looked up the term “gourmet” in my Food Lover’s Companion. I then decided that I was reluctant to call myself a gourmet--I was a reluctant gourmet. Then, there is my reluctance to try new cooking techniques and recipes.
I own over 100 cookbooks and subscribe to several cooking magazines, but I seldom follow a recipe from them. I enjoy reading about new foods and ideas, and they are a great source of meal ideas, but I am usually reluctant to step outside of my comfort zone.
Therefore, I have to force myself to try new cooking techniques and recipes. Like many home cooks, there are days when I am reluctant to go downstairs to prepare a meal at five o'clock.
In a nutshell, I am a self-taught, mistake-making, learn-by-doing, not-afraid-to-ask-questions, never-been-to-culinary-school, constantly learning stay-at-home dad and home cook.
How I Can Help
Many of you have written and told me about your own fears in the kitchen. You tell me how you feel stuck preparing those same 6 or 7 meals week after week. I get it, I’ve been there. Sometimes I'm still there.
I’m here to tell you that it is not as difficult as you might believe to get out of that rut and start preparing restaurant-quality meals at home in no time.
Anyone can make a delicious gourmet meal with basic techniques, the right tools, and the best products available. I am constantly looking for shortcuts, techniques, products, tips—anything that will make cooking truly what it’s supposed to be: FUN.
I’m not saying you’ll be able to quit your job and start chefing at some fancy chic restaurant, but I will show you some basics that will make you comfortable in your own kitchen.
Where Is The Reluctant Gourmet Now
The Reluctant Gourmet lives outside Philadelphia with his beautiful wife and two daughters, whom you read about in many of my articles and blog posts. They are my joy and inspiration, and I'm happy to report that my young girls enjoy cooking with their dad.
My oldest loves to bake and makes birthday cakes for friends and family. My youngest has cerebral palsy, but that doesn't stop her from helping me caramelize onions or make demi-glace sauces.
I am truly lucky to have found something I love to do and to share it with so many. Thank you for all your support.
