Blogger and food columnist for Harper's Bazaar Germany, Luisa Weiss chatted to us about the type of food you can expect to see on her blog, The Wednesday Chef
Writer and food blogger, Luisa Weiss worked as a cookbook editor in New York City when she decided to start her own website. Originally a place to sort through recipe clippings, her blog, The Wednesday Chef, took off and she now splits her time between blogging, developing her second cookbook and working as a food columnist for Harper’s Bazaar Germany.
We sat down with Luisa to discuss what she’s trying to achieve with The Wednesday Chef and her views on simpler cooking …
What do you hope people will take away from your blog?
I'd love for them to feel encouraged to cook, first and foremost, but also to find a little humour and distraction from their everyday lives. And if I can make readers feel connected to other readers, cooks and me in some way, whether it's in the struggle that is feeding a toddler or the race to get a good dinner on the table after work, then that's icing on the cake.
Which 5 things would we find in your fridge?
Milk, yogurt, homemade jam, tomato paste and parmesan cheese. And then about 90 bottles of random things like tamarind paste, white miso, umeboshi plums, chipotles in adobo and homemade pickles - the perils of being a food blogger !
What’s your personal food philosophy?
The easier, the better. I'm a big fan of simple cooking. I love a big cooking project every now and then, but what I really dig, day in and out, are simple recipes that deliver on both flavor and authenticity. I used to think that Italians were the masters of simple, easy and delicious food , but I was thrilled to discover a few years ago that Indian and Chinese cuisines are just as easy as long as you have access to the right ingredients. Since then my repertoire has expanded enormously. But I still gravitate towards the easy stuff; I always will. As alluring as it may be to make puff pastry by hand, I'd still rather be reading or playing with my kid in my spare time.
What’s your top cooking tip?
It's a toss-up between being adventurous and widening your culinary landscape (see above!) and letting vegetables cook for far longer than you might think - a surefire way to deeply delicious, sweet vegetables!
Where do you get your recipe ideas from?
Food blogs, cookbooks, newspapers, magazines, novels, everywhere!