Talking Fusion Recipes w Marc Matsumoto

I first saw Marc Matsumoto of No Recipes when I attended a bloggers event. I wondered about this Asian guy walking around the room checking out the products. So I started following him on twitter.

Recently I saw Marc tweeted that blogger's were donating their months ad revenue to help Haiti. Since I'm always looking for ways the Asian and Black community crosses paths I contacted Marc for more info about about him, his Blog Away Hunger cause and to learn if he knew any Asian & Black fusion recipes.

1. How did you get into cooking and what's the idea behind No Recipes?

I can't remember when exactly I started cooking, but can say that I loved food before I loved cooking and so getting in the kitchen at an early age (maybe 5 or 6) was just a natural extension of my relationship with food. As for No Recipes, it's how I've cooked since the beginning. Maybe it was because I started cooking before I could read, or perhaps it was because my mother cooked without them. Either way, I've always found that using recipes is a bit like wearing a pair of shoes that are one size too small. Sure, I may post recipes on my site, but I try to go into the techniques behind the recipe so people have more leeway in improvising without missing something important.

2. Is there a certain style of cooking you favor?

I'm all about quick and easy. There's a lot of lore and old-wives-tales involved in cooking and I like to find faster easier ways of doing things without sacrificing the finished product. At the same time I'm also not a fan of processed foods, so when I can, I try to start with raw ingredients. For example, most people would call me crazy for making Japanese style curry from scratch when the packaged mixes taste pretty good, but I've found that it's not that much more work, and the results are worth the extra effort.

3. How did you get other chefs interested in joining your Blog Away Hunger program? How have your combined efforts helped different causes? How can others support your program?

Call me an idealist, but I've always believed that if people who lived a better life, helped those worse off than them, there would be no poverty or hunger in the world. The World Food Program estimates that of the 7 billion people on Earth, 1 billion go to sleep hungry every night and another 2 billion are malnourished. If the other 4 billion people pitched in a dollar per week, chronic hunger could be eradicated. The problem is that most people are waiting till they win the lottery to help people out. It's part of human nature to never be satisfied with what you have, but by giving to those with less than you, it's a reminder that your situation could be a lot worse.

Blog Away Hunger has never been about collecting large individual donations. Whether you're choosing to eat-in one more night a week and donating the savings, or saving a few bucks at the grocery store and donating that, the idea is that if a lot of people come together and make a small change in their lifestyle, together, they can make a big difference.

4. Whats your advice for those looking to cook but aren't great at it?

Pick a couple dishes that you really love and learn to make them well enough that you don't need a recipe. As you get better at them, try improvising with different proteins, vegetables, and spices. Also remember that cooking is about trusting your senses so it's important to watch the dish as you're making it to make sure it looks okay, smell the dish to make sure it smells good, and most importantly taste the dish at every step to make sure it tastes how you want it to.

5. We discussed that there might be recipes & foods that are a fusion of different Asian and Black cultures. Have you discovered any? Can I challenge you to come up with a recipe? :)

I think this is a type of cross-cultural cuisine that's been largely under-explored and reminds me of a Jamaican inspired sushi restaurant in the West Village. As for recipes, I'll see what I can come up with :-)

Of course I'm going to keep bugging Marc for that recipe! Think he'll name it after me? LOL. Thank you Marc for the interview!

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