CBCulinary

07/23/2025

Cant really see the Romas growning in the tire.

10/25/2024

FLAVOR PROFILING

There’s a saying - “The only two things I really like are serotonin and dopamine.” It points to the fact that we like what we like because those things trigger a chemical reaction in our body. And that chemical reaction is actually… what feels good.

This dynamic is at the core of life; it’s the kind of thing that songs are written about - “forget your lust, for the rich man’s gold… all that you need, is in your soul.” - Lynard Skynard

And, it happens to also be at the core of high-level culinary thinking. Flavor Profiling is an exercise I use to identify a client’s taste-equivalent to serotonin and dopamine. For the sake of example (this is oversimplified) when asked what your favorite flavor combos are, you mention - Thai Food, Mexican Food and Indian Food… “especially that green chutney they put on the side.” It would be safe to note that two of the things you “actually” really like are the cilantro-lime and sweet n sour flavor sets, in addition to those cuisines etc.

Through a process of asking specific questions and gathering other data, the first step in creating a personalized plan or system for someone, is building their flavor profile. The developer’s skill level at this will determine whether the product has a high level of efficacy, or effectiveness. Meaning … does it work in theory or does it work-work.

Menu + Recipe development based off of this is especially useful for people with various dietary restrictions. No matter what you can or cannot eat, if you know what you actually like… what your taste buds are craving underneath the cuisine and recipe name… then you can in the best possible way, exploit that information and have what you really want along with what you need.

A diet done any other way is what makes them suck as bad as they do. Nothing will replace certain items that you have to let go of, and very little can take the place of overdoing something, but still getting to have food that you really really enjoy… can be the make or break.

10/16/2024

RECIPE DEVELOPMENT

Whether it is for production or print, the most important thing about a recipe is that it works and works the same every time. If a phenomenal recipe isn’t transferred properly, it will not yield a phenomenal result.

The process of transferring a recipe from creator to user is an art form. Professional chefs spend years in kitchens trying to learn from their mentors - trying to understand what they understand. With such a large pool of knowledge it can be difficult to know exactly which pieces of information should be passed on in a little blip like a recipe.

One very important factor to consider is that the user will always need to improvise in one-way shape or form. Maybe they have a different kind of salt than the developer or are missing one ingredient; or maybe they have a 30-year-old oven with a crack in the door and so on. This is great news and a golden opportunity for the developer to properly hand the reigns over. If the right bits of information are passed on with the right language, the user will be set up for success. A good recipe helps someone become a chef; it's a different experience than simply following instructions. Learning something new and using your hands at the same time is a powerful combination. It's even more powerful when other senses are woven in - taste, smell, touch, hearing... all of these come into play with cooking. So even if the person using the recipe is... just following instructions, so much of the self gets involved by the nature of the situation and a deeper learning is likely to take place. This ultimately starts to "build the chef" in someone.

Regardless of what the recipe is for, I try to write it in the way a chef thinks - with that train of thought. This approach is such a huge part of why restaurant food comes out differently than your average home-cooked meal. Following these kinds of recipes step by step takes the user through a process that mimics the workflow of a professional kitchen. And that, is pretty awesome.

04/24/2024

Roasted Veggies with a lil dill.. some roasted garlic oil… smoked paprika.. lemon … 🤌🏼

04/11/2024

Photographer - Rachel Adams

04/11/2024

https://boulderweekly.com/cuisine/tasting-with-your-eyes/

Colin Barclay was done with restaurants. He’d taken his lifelong passion for cooking, gone to culinary school and worked his way to a kitchen position at a swanky Washington D.C. restaurant. But after a year, he called it quits. The restaurant was the “most hostile, aggressive place” he’d ev...

04/10/2024

Photographer - Dennis Lane

If you are ever in the Gluten Free section of the grocery store ... look around for this one

04/10/2024

Photographs by Rachel Adams

04/10/2024

Partial Client List

Amazing to work with so many high-level creatives.

09/25/2023

Made some fun stuff this weekend .. this coconut milk broth with lime-leaf, lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon and mustard seed was one of em.

08/17/2023

It's Hot, Watermelon is not... hopefully it's not anyways. Here's the recipe for the cooler pictured below. https://www.boulderfoodstyling.com/post/watermelon-cooler

03/28/2023

Some amazing food over the last year or two !