Hear how the thing start...

After one of the weirdest breakfasts on record (trust me, you DON'T wanna know what went into my belly this morning), I sat down to watch The Cooking Channel, which I consider to be Food Network's slightly edgier sister. Maybe it was my trying to digest the skewered olives that topped the boiled eggs... oops, forget you read that... or it could have been the sight of Emeril Lagasse's episode of Fresh Food Fast, which led my brain on a mental challenge of trying to figure out just how many local cooking shows I’ve seen here at home... I'm sure you could count them on two hands...

(Did Sylvia Hunt pop into your head just now, ent? No? Jeez, ah getting old in truth!)

Anyway, from there, it went to my own cookbook, which, I am happy to say is now in the final stages. Yes, it’s taken a few years to finish, but you’re forgetting a few valid points. 

1. I am a multitasker. My day job takes a good chunk of the creative lobes and by the time I get home, they need sustenance and a kick-start to go again.
2. Research and memory fuelled the material, and since my Granny and Mummy are no longer with me and have gone on to the great heavenly kitchen in the sky, it meant… 
3. I had to do the math.  Yes, my nemesis got the better of me (especially) in the baking department, because unlike bubbling a pot, where almost any mistake can be corrected with a shake of this and a dash of that, baking meant measuring… and leveling off… and converting to metric… eeek!

(Now you see why I don’t do much of it, but I digress.)

So, I was watching Emeril make a ridiculously healthy salad (which resembled a few I’ve done over the years) and then it hit me. For the times when I get inspired and have the mechanics for a dish or two floating around in my head (sometimes for days)… I could do a blog and share some of these ideas, yes? 

Well, if I were to do a blog, it certainly wasn’t going to be your usual cookie cutter, cutesy poo cooking tutorial… this would be all Trini, raw and jokey and mad (like I am), with some anecdotes here and there and trips to the market or grocery, complete with shots of what's on sale, such as...

Maybe I could include my attempts to rock the dishes I see on TV, like making a Trini version of their fancy-shmancy shrimp cocktail, or do a homemade pickle and make one of my mad Dagwood sandwich creations or stew some things that have no right to be stewed… yeah, you heard me… what... what!?

So, the vibe was growing, but I was still hesitant, simply because I am a blog virgin. Still in doubt, I took it to my facebook peeps in a status… “Seriously contemplating a cooking blog… what do you think? :-)”

Well, you know the answer to that, cuz look, yuh reading my cherry popping first blog entry right now, hahahahaaaa! But seriously, thanks for the push, my friends… what ah was waiting on in truth?

Of course, I won’t be just writing for the sake of writing. Knowing how much you appreciated the cooking guides and pics I put up on my facebook page, I’ll definitely continue the movements here (hope there’s an app for video on this thing) and more. So, let me give you an idea of what you can expect to see and enjoy from me…

• I will be looking back at simple, easy things that my Granny prepared for me as a child, recalling the feelings and experiences of those first tastes and smells and repeating a few of the long-time recipes we hardly see anymore.
• We’ll look at some old and new cooking tools and some As Seen on TV items too.

• Check out "the vaps meal" – one of my favourite things to do.  
• From time to time I will journey around Trinidad to look for some of the fruits we enjoyed as children, such as this one...

• I'll also do my best to answer any cooking queries you've got, so comments and questions are most welcome!

Most importantly, we’ll be doing it together.

And if you’re wondering about the title of my blog, it was pretty simple. After all, what is one of the first things we do while we’re cooking or baking? We call on whoever’s closest to you (i.e. the "victim") to lend you their taste buds by saying; “Ay! Come taste this nah!” 

And so, without further ado, here’s to what I hope will be an enjoyable cooking and writing experience; my new blog, Come Taste This.

Hugs and love, my friends, and mind de pot!