I started a Substack publication, and while most of it will make it here as well, I would love it if you feel like subscribing: https://substack.com/@ayanaperry
Why the “Art” of Food: Art gets at the idea that something is experimental, imprecise, and open to being seen and interpreted in different ways—what works for one person may not for another. There’s no single definition of “good” or “finished.”
Art is an ever-evolving, personal expression that gets better with practice, a skill refined over time through curiosity, attention, and self-awareness.
If you want to make a perfect soufflé, maybe follow the rules and restrictions, but for most of us wanting a simple, yummy, healthy meal most days strictly following a recipe is not fun or even realistic (who has all the right ingredients all the time? certainly not me.)
Food is culture, joy, well-being, and sometimes an unfortunate necessity… The Art of Food embraces food as a creative process, inviting you to experiment, learn, and discover cooking and recipes that work for you.
The ultimate goal: FREEDOM in the kitchen — free artistic license! no recipes need! And still, a delicious (or at least edible) fruit of your labor.
Full transparency, even though anyone who knows me well will tell you I’m an excellent cook, because I approach food like art — I STILL create the very rare inedible monstrosity that goes directly in the trash. That’s just part of the territory, and I always learn from it!
A bit about me:
It was the night of October 17, 1996, deep in the woods of central Kentucky. Down a gravel road, past two creeks, in a log cabin my father built with his own hands, that my two-year-old self experienced something for the first time—ice cream.
As I lay between my parents in bed getting ready for sleep, my little body began literally vibrating with unfamiliar energy. It was my first real taste of how food can profoundly affect us.
For the first few years of my life, my diet was mostly whole and unprocessed plant foods—a way of eating similar to what’s described in Fit for Life. Over we somehow transitioned toward a more typical American diet. More animal products, salt, fat, and sugar. More processed food. More of what was convenient and normalized.
At age 6 or 7, white patches appeared in my eyebrow and hair. Around the same time, I began to smell cigarette smoke when none was around. At eighteen, a brain tumor was discovered above my left ear —of which unpleasant phantom smells are often a tell tale sign.
Throughout my life, my body sent signals—stomach aches, food sensitivities, acne, painful cramps, heart palpitations, rashes, and fatigue. And for most of my life, I didn’t even remotely understand WHY. But now, after reading tons of books and research papers, courses, experimenting, and paying attention, I have developed a pretty clear and compelling picture. My blood work is excellent, most of my health concerns are gone, and (when I’m following my own advice*) I feel great.
*Let’s be real no one is perfect all the time, and I go through periods of overworking, staying up too late, and making sacrificing in the process of living life. It happens to the best of us, but I DO follow my own advice more often than I do not, and I think that’s the most important part.
We consume, on average, 80,000–120,000 pounds of food in a lifetime. It’s absurd to think it wouldn’t shape our health, energy, and longevity. Yet most of us are never given the right tools or knowledge to make informed choices, or taught the skills to make those choices possible!
This is why I created The Art of Food—to share what I’ve learned and hopefully make an impact in our health and skill crisis. Yes, crisis. I think it is truly that serious and I’m making an effort to do something about it.
I started cooking when I was very young and grew up working in restaurants and catering. I LOVE food, growing food, cooking food, trying new foods from different cultures. I am also an artist and have been since forever, and food, like art, is experimental, personal, cultural. And I love everything about it. Except the dead bodies… If you choose to eat dead animals I’m not going to berate you about it, but, know that I don’t think there is anything good or necessary about it, it’s actively harmful on every level, but this is not the post for that, and in general I will not be discussing that topic in this publication.
Here, I will share cooking lessons, stories, recipes, nutrition insights, and practical ways to shift toward a way of cooking and eating that not only fights disease and obesity, but is enjoyable, and helps you AND the planet thrive.
Whether you want to learn to cook, improve your health, have less negative impact on the ecosystem, or simply eat learn some new recipes, I’m sure this space will be a useful resource and hopefully source of inspiration.
Let’s create!
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