The Sea Cook’s latest photo shoot was the shoot I have been waiting for. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is that I made mojo pork, using the recipe developed by chef Roy Choi for the movie, Chef, which was my culinary class theme. It was phenomenal. Obviously I cannot take credit for the recipe, I give all credit to chef Choi. I enjoyed the prep work along with my Cuban jazz playing in the background. Also, I used the slower cooking method so I could pull it apart. Of course, this gives me an excuse to make it again so I can make cubanos! Stay tuned…
Next, I made, for the first time, Thai Larb. The lay out of The Sea Cook, is a collection of essays about my time as a Merchant Marine, primarily the cooking aspect. I write essays about the ports of call I have been to and highlight the culinary culture of each locale. While I was in New York City, my sister, then a student of UCONN, along with my father, came to visit me on the boat. After a brief tour, we headed into town where my sister led us to some interesting places. She is one of my all-time favorite people and has led an interesting life. She loves Asian culture and took us to a great restaurant. Obviously I had to include an essay about her and her favorite food in the book. So, here it is. Thai Larb. She lives in Australia now, so I’ll have to email her the recipe and see what she thinks. In this area, as in many others, she is more of an expert than I am!
This brings me back around to the purpose of the book and the website. The culinary connection that unites people and cultures. I would have never tried to eat this meal, much less cook this dish, without her. Hopefully, she will learn a couple things from my upcoming book (of which she gets the first copy!). I love talking about food, coffee, cultures and many other subjects. This blog provides an outlet to do that. I hope you enjoy reading the posts as much as I enjoy writing them. Reach out to me anytime with ideas, comments or anything else. Happy Eats!
