Amuse-Bouche: First Published 1/28/08

We should probably set a few ground rules here, or I should at least tell you a little bit about who I am. I love to cook, I really do. Something about my wiring, I guess, means I don’t mind waking up at 7, a.m. on Christmas morning to pull a Capon out of brine or work all day and then cook at my friends house; and when I say cook at a friend’s house, I don’t mean boil some water for pasta, I mean putting sweetbreads through standard breading procedure, making a vinaigrette and blanching, shocking & pureeing broccoli to mix into risotto. This quality; that I find so wonderful is the same quality that can piss people off. My own mother has essentially banned me from her kitchen on any major holiday lest I repeat the actions of last Thanksgiving & Christmas when I refused any help from anyone even from something as simple as the assembly of salad, the mashing of a potato or even the making of a biscuit, which I refused to make from a Pillsbury tin. I’m trying to be better, I really am, but let’s just say I’ll help someone else out, who I know has more skill than I do, but I’m not exactly enthusiastic about having a sous chef.

As I sit here writing this, I’m getting ready to head to school and do a little cooking, god only knows what we’re doing tonight. I’m even going to take a picture of stuff we cook, show it to you guys and then I’ll probably critique it. So welcome, I look forward to our journey.

Oh yeah, a word about the name. The older brother of an old roommate of mine once dubbed me "the Sherpa" on account of my showing him the ways of New York City. My hope is I can be your food Sherpa.