An Interview with Chef Cynthia

I believe that learning to cook early in life can help kids and young adults get a great head start on eating healthier. So, when a local high school student wanted to interview me for a report she was doing in her English class, I was thrilled to help. The questions she asked got me thinking about my cooking style, and my journey to becoming a personal chef, so I wanted to share the interview with you guys.

Q: What got you interested in cooking? Most people seem to just prefer grabbing a fast food meal.

Chef Cynthia: Cooking is something I took a natural interest in as a child. The famous phrase “you are what you eat” always stuck with me. It just makes sense, doesn’t it? One of the easiest things you can do to support a healthy lifestyle is to eat nutritious, whole, unprocessed - or barely processed - foods.

I didn’t always do that. When I was a kid, I ate fast food burgers and hotdogs as much as anyone else. My mother changed her eating habits when I was a teenager and through her, I learned and tasted the difference between unprocessed foods and fast foods. We switched to wheat bread, more chicken and less beef, unsweetened tea, less mac and cheese and creamy salad dressings. . As a young adult I preferred eating at sit-down restaurants, though my food choices weren’t any healthier.

Becoming a massage therapist in my late 20s focused me on healthy lifestyles. I learned more about eating better which, combined with my natural enjoyment of cooking, gave me more incentive to broaden my horizons and taste buds. As a massage therapist, I enjoyed helping others feel better and improving their well being; cooking is another way to fulfill that mission.

Q: You mentioned before how restaurants often aren’t any healthier than fast food. Since so many people love to eat out, or grab restaurant or fast food to save time, how do you inspire people, especially teenagers, to focus more on cooking at home?

Chef Cynthia: I would appeal to their logic and sense of creativity. Start with logic: everyone should know about all of the carbohydrates, preservatives and artificial flavorings in fast food. There’s too little nutrition and fiber and way too much sodium, sugar and empty calories. Restaurant food may taste better than fast food and offer more variety, but it usually isn't much healthier.

To live our lives with fewer health issues and to perform our normal daily activities, physical or mental, our bodies need food that provides the right fuel. Just like with a car, the better the fuel, the better the performance. With this logic, why would a person choose to live on fast food?

For creativity, cooking provides a huge opportunity to make untold new food dishes, flavors and combinations. You can combine your skills and knowledge, like chemistry, math, personal taste and a little daring to create some awesome dishes that will make a good impression. The more creative the chef, the more people admire them. I think teenagers like a challenge, and they like to impress others. Learning to cook delicious meals accomplishes both. There’s nothing clever or creative about buying fast food.

Next month I’ll post the rest of this interview, plus I’ll answer a question or two you guys post as comments to this blog. Until then, Eat well!