Delishar (aka Sharon) is an avid cook and a food blogger. She blogs at www.delishar.com where she also shares her recipes. She enjoys creating recipes that are simple and quick to prepare. We were delighted that she took some time out of her busy schedule to chat with us on what inspires her and her creative process. Also, she told us why she would rather be a chef’s knife instead of a pork chop or a carrot!
1. What inspires you to cook?
I started cooking in my late teens for people I care about and was close to me. The appreciation on their faces is priceless and most rewarding. It was only until I started dating my husband that I really got serious about cooking. Perhaps that’s my love language and my way of taking care of him. And now, I get to cook for my husband and my children. They inspire me to be creative, push boundaries, and marry my love for cooking with nutrition. Cooking is always my way of spending time with myself, my me-time. An activity that evokes all 5 senses and teaches me to be mindful, to be in the present. It is my kind of therapy.
2. How has creativity helped you in cooking?
Creativity allows me to think out of the box, question rules, test limits, and improvise. Through creativity, one is willing to try to make something different.
3. Walk us through your creative process of creating a new recipe.
I’m usually inspired by an event or a place that I’ve been to. I also want to understand more about the food I’ve tried. I am often intrigued by a new ingredient, or a specific way of eating. All these evoke emotions and spark curiosity which initiates the creative process. I’d translate what I’m feeling to create the recipe in a way that I hope would let others feel it too. Each of my recipes come with a little story behind it, and I’d share that in my blog together with the recipe.
4. Why is creativity important?
Creativity is important because it makes things challenging, in a fun and exciting way. It is an avenue to be expressive in your own unique method. To be able to create can be so empowering and the sense of achievement you get is extremely invigorating.
5. Who is your favourite chef and why?
I respect and look up to all chefs, because each of them has his own unique way of creative expression. I am especially in awe with Chef Heston Blumenthal and Chef Grant Achatz because of their focus in molecular gastronomy. Being able to use science to elevate raw ingredients intrigues me greatly. It is definitely not your everyday food and not something we can churn out from the regular home kitchen.
6. What is your biggest kitchen fail?
There’s a fine line between fusion and confusion. I’m a fan of fusion / modern food. I’m sure I’ve made my fair share of confusions when it comes to my personal interpretation of fusion food. Believe me, when I say my kids are not shy to let me know. Haha! But it is through mistakes that I learn. Hence, I wouldn’t see it as a failure, but rather a process.
7. When you daydream, what do you visualize?
Being in a fully stocked kitchen with all the ingredients and spices made available to me. I fantasize about being able to learn and cook with people from all walks of life, without the constraint of time. I do dream about going to a proper culinary school overseas. Not an impossible dream, but perhaps not the right time yet.
8. If you could be a pork chop or a carrot, what would you be? Why?
That’s an interesting question. I wouldn’t have thought about that. If I have to pick, I’d be a chef’s knife. It is something very personal, an essential, and the main artist’s tool. It’d definitely last longer than just being an ingredient!
9. If you had the power to shrink anything and take it with you, what would you do with it?
Can I shrink myself? That way, I will be able to sneak into the kitchen of great chefs to see them in their creative element! Not a sight that you’ll see often.
10. If could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Thai Rice Soup (Khao Tom). It’s nutritious, delicious, satisfying, comforting, and easy to eat. Plus, I don’t have to worry about getting old and having a hard time eating solid food after losing my teeth! Haha!
Delishar’s cookbook “Daily Cooking with Delishar” is available at Kinokuniya and Popular bookstores.
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