A bit about myself

The Frustrated Fil-Am Chef

I am a Fil-Am expat who has been living in Oslo, Norway since 2002.  You may wonder why have I decided to call my blog "The Frustrated Fil-Am Chef"?  I am not really a chef, more like a chef at heart.  I am actually a payroll consultant for one of Norway's largest Payroll and Outsourcing firms. Although I am heavily involved in my career, cooking has always been my passion. 

The passion for cooking started from my youth. I have fond memories of my mother performing wonders in the kitchen in regards to our native Filipino cuisine. In addition, our family was quite adventurous when it came to trying new restaurants and cuisine.  

While growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, in addition to the saturday morning cartoon line-up, I would watch religiously Martin Yan's show "Yan Can Cook."  The expertises of Mr. Yan's cooking method trully captured my attention and till this day I still follow his advice from his tv-program.

During my teens I would read my parent's collection of cook books and try my hand recreating the dishes, with my younger sister as my taste tester and critic.  I had my share of failures and successes, but even since my youth, I found cooking as a source of therapy.

In addition to my love for cooking.  I am an avid practitioner of Chinese martial arts.  Like martial arts, cooking requires to follow a set recipe and later mastering the basics to eventually forget everything you have learned to create something that is "yours."  There are many correlations between cooking and martial arts such as perfection of techniques and the amount of work behind to one's skill to achieve "gong-fu."

My connections in Chinese martial arts and with the local Chinese community also opened my taste buds to "authentic" and traditional Chinese cuisine.  I learned that Chinese cuisine have many regional styles such as the fiery and flavorful Sichuan cuisine, to the wonderful "heart-delight" of Cantonese cooking.  But growing up in the Alaska, there wasn't really a need to cook since I consider my mom a excellent cook. Not to mention our family had our list of exceptional restaurants we would frequent on occasions.


It was not until I moved to Norway, my real passion for cooking would begin to re-surface.  Norway 10 years ago did not have much in regards to Asian cuisine.  You had the typical Chop suey Chinese restaurants serving the typical fair of "Western" influenced Asian cuisine.  To my disappointment, I found the Asian cuisine in Norway to be bland and overly watered down.

My taste buds longed for the classic and traditional dishes I grew up eating.  I began to recreate my favorite dishes I grew up with by memory.  In addition, I began to research various cooking styles of Asia and started to to explore European, American, and Middle Eastern cuisine. Having friends in Norway who are professional chefs or work in the food industry has also helped me to grow and expand my taste pallet.

I have tried to make a career out of my passion by starting a business delivering my own version of cinnamon rolls to local cafes.  It went well at first and I had small following in Oslo.  However due to tough competition from larger and cheaper bakeries, and the fact I hardly had time with my family, I decided to return to a regular 8-4 job. Although my heart was in cooking, it could not support the needs of my family, thus why I have chosen the name "The Frustrated Fil-Am Chef."  I may not be a trained chef, but I enjoy creating dishes and aim towards perfection everytime I cook.

This blog is a reflection of my experience cooking the dishes and cuisines I hold very dearly to my heart. Cooking for me is a form of meditation and art. It takes time effort, hard work and love to achieve something that can be presented and enjoyed to those we love.I hope through this blog I may share my love and joy of cooking with others.

Enjoy!

---The Frustrated Fil-Am Chef