What Steve Eats is where I share recipes that combine local ingredients with global inspiration. Whether that's a comforting English stew, a lesser-known Italian pasta, or a classic American cobbler. Sometimes inspiration comes near, and other times it's far.
If I could spend my days doing whatever I wanted, I'd travel and eat my way around the world. Maybe one day I will. Until then, you'll find me in my kitchen with vegetables (and a few fruits) from my backyard garden and with goods from Vermont's impressive assortment of farms and food producers.
While I often refer to Vermont farms and producers, wherever you live, chances are you have your own local farmers, local bakers, local brewers, and other talented food businesses just waiting for your support. Or maybe you'll feel inspired to grow a few foods of your own.
the kinds of foods I like
While I try to share a variety of foods, I do have my favorites. I like things tart and a little bitter, flavors you find in cranberries, dark chocolate, sour cherries, coffee, and dark beers. That said, I do love desserts. I dislike olives (but not olive oil), IPAs, and despite the opinion of my fellow millennials, don't care much for avocados (except as guacamole).
I care more about where foods come from than their calories or carbs. Quality ingredients from small food producers are what I consider healthy eating.
where I get inspiration
While there are many foods I'd like to explore, you'll likely notice a prevalence of recipes inspired by Italy (I'm Italian) and England (I'm a bit of an anglophile). I'd love to cook more Middle Eastern (I'm also Lebanese), Nordic (those people are the happiest in the world for a reason, right?), and African (foods I have yet to really explore). If you want to browse my recipes by their place of inspiration, check out the interactive map on my homepage.
I think we can learn much about the world through its food and that's my goal here. I don't claim to offer authentic recipes from anywhere, partly because the word authentic holds little value and also because I simply can't make that claim when I'm a white guy from New England who hasn't traveled nearly as much as he'd like. That's why I like to say recipes are inspired by a place, instead.
who am I, anyway?
In the past ten years of living in Vermont, I've been fortunate to have some fun food-related gigs. I wrote for a local paper about food and many of the posts here feature expanded and updated versions of those columns. I also worked for my local food cooperative and continue to volunteer there. And I once helped teach my community about local foods by running cooking demonstrations and tastings.
But I'm no expert. Trust me. I would have loved to get a culinary degree instead of one in English. Though at least I'm able to write coherently.
I hope you enjoy What Steve Eats. Feel free to share your thoughts by commenting on any recipes you may cook or send me a message using my contact form. I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas, as I'm always looking to keep learning and trying new foods.
Cheers!