About Robin Hodgkinson…
I have been a dedicated cook and home chef since I was young. I started cooking as a child with my French-Canadian grandmother who lived much of her adult life in an Italian immigrant community in Rhode Island. Pot Roast with gravy and mashed potatoes, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Pasta Putanesca, and French-Canadian Pork Pie are still some of my favorite comfort foods, although my food tastes have expanded considerably over the years.
As a young adult, I attended college in Mexico, set up a community health center in rural Guatemala, hitch-hiked from Mexico City to San Jose, Costa Rica researching the major Pre-Columbian archaeological sites along the way; studied Swahili in Kenya and wrote about living in a remote coastal fishing village in Tanzania, East Africa; traveled by rail across India on my way to Bali, Indonesia, where I learned Indonesian and studied Balinese culture and religion with a Balinese Hindu priest. Huevos Rancheros, Bistec a la Plancha, Frijoles Negros con Arroz, Tacos al Carbon, Guacamole, Mole Poblano, Ugali with Mutton Stew, Squid Curry, Dal, Tandoori, Raita, Samosas, Saté, Nasi Goreng, Gado-Gado…I never went hungry.
Living in Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia expanded my personal culinary tastes and instilled a deep curiosity and appreciation of ethnic cuisines from all parts of the world. This curiosity and interest in regional ingredients and how food is prepared around the globe is reflected in the recipes I collect and the food I prepare for my family and friends.
After graduating college, my wife, Nancye, and I bought a house in an idyllic location in western Massachusetts and set up a clay studio. I specialized in creating original design clay musical instruments for over 25 years. My Spirit Vessels, ocarinas and open-hole flutes were sold internationally in fine craft galleries, art shows, and museum gift stores and catalogs, and are included in several books about contemporary ceramics as well as the private collections of numerous professional musicians. During that time I enjoyed researching and formulating clay bodies and developed a number of unique glaze recipes for my flutes; I found the process was much like exploring food recipes and cooking. Both require curiosity, creativity and an understanding of the ingredients and materials and how they interact with heat to produce the desired result. It’s not surprising to me that many of my potter friends are avid cooks.
For many years I’ve collected, prepared, and often adapted over 2,000 recipes that have struck me as being interesting and delicious; many of them not particularly complicated to make. Before I cook a recipe, frequently I research three or four, or more versions of the recipe; what I save is usually a composite of several recipes, plus the changes I include to fit my personal palate and my kitchen. Over time, this website/blog will become home to many of those recipes. Whenever possible, I attribute or link to the source of the original recipe, even if I have modified it significantly; some recipes were collected so many years ago, I don’t have the original source. For that I apologize.
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Buen provecho! Bon appétit! Enjoy!
