5 Questions with a Foodie: Veronica Perez

I first heard about this week’s foodie, Veronica Perez, about a year ago at Broad Appetit where she launched onto the scene with her delightful, colorful macarons from her patisserie, Petites Bouchees. From that point on I constantly heard and read a steady stream of positive buzz about her credentials in the arena of food.

As is often the case, I followed her twitter stream and soon found that the woman lives and breathes food — I have to avoid reading her tweets (@kitchenmusings) when hungry or risk eating my own arm!

It seems to be a going trend with our foodies of late, but beyond her passion for amazing pastry, Veronica is more than a little obsessed with duck. Can you blame her? Add a healthy love for pork belly, fried chicken and anything combining sugar and butter and you’d think she was raised in Savannah, Ga., not the Philippines.

Veronica, like many self-made foodies, has pulled together a diverse list of influences with a strong love and passion for great food to create an impressive presence in the local food scene and beyond. Take a look at what makes her a foodie then read her blog and follow her on twitter — your appetite will thank you!

How do you define the term foodie and do you consider yourself one?

I’m not sure where that word came from but if it means someone who is obsessed with thoughts of food on a daily basis, then that’s me. If it means someone who has to describe and dissect every flavor to his dining companion while eating dinner, then that’s not me. I’m very simple. If I’m enjoying my food, I’ve been known to clap my hands in between bites in pure glee. Speaking not required...actually I’d rather not be disturbed while eating the first few bites of a delicious meal. In fact, the first thing I told the hubby on our first or second date was not to come between me and my food and we should get along.

If you could pick the best components of a few Richmond restaurants to create one super-fabulous restaurant, what would they be?

We don’t eat out much. I’m blessed with friends and family who can cook food better than most restaurants. I do love the cuisine of Paolo Randazzo of Sensi, I would love to see his sort of cooking in a more casual setting like Can Can Brasserie.

How did you get into food and/or cooking?

I literally grew up in a restaurant. It’s typical for most Chinese to have their dwellings above their places of business; I guess because their work is their life. Anyway both my parents and grandmother were fabulous cooks and they were very competitive among themselves. Luckily, I am the recipient of all their cooking knowledge. I really did not start cooking in earnest until maybe 2004 when I decided that if I wanted to eat a certain dish done a certain way it’s best to make it myself.

I started a food blog in 2006 because I wanted to document my quest for the perfect duck confit. I have an obsessive nature of finding the "best recipe" and have been known to make worksheets of cooking projects or writing my endless Macaron Chronicles. If I weren’t deathly afraid of vats of frying oil, my house would smell like a fry shack because I’d be trying to make the ultimate fried chicken.

If I were to ask your significant other or best friend what your worst "foodie" trait is, what would they say?

I do not like leftovers even if it was as recent as having leftover lunch for dinner. I think since childhood my palate can pick up off flavors in food that has been previously cooked and reheated — stews are an exception as their flavors deepen the next day. Most of the time I can even look at a dish and can tell if it’s been freshly made or not. I’ve gotten a lot better about it since I do not have the luxury of living in a restaurant now and I feel it’s not fair for the hubby to eat all the leftovers. But I still hate huge servings and love the idea of small plates.

Describe your perfect meals for one full day.

I would skip breakfast and just have coffee in preparation for an early lunch at Full Kee for Hong Kong style noodle and roast duck soup and some of their dimsum. No snacks in between before an early dinner of Persian kebabs. My husband makes the best tenderloin and ground meat skewered fare including all the side dishes of shirazi salad, cucumber yoghurt, grilled tomatoes and Persian rice with a tahdig (crunchy layer at the bottom of the pot).

Here’s a link to the kebab feast on my blog just in case someone is interested in making it.

For the last course maybe after an hour or two, it would be homemade apple pie and vanilla bean ice cream.