Hello, food enthusiasts and culinary adventurers! I want to take you along on my gastronomic journey! 
Imagine the following: A man from the Netherlands ventures into the world of business administration studies and believes it will be the adventure of his life. I thought I would dedicate my entire life to business administration. I didn't yet know that life had other plans for me.
I spent part of my study time in France, where I shared an apartment with an Italian neighbor named Andrea. What exciting conversations we had about food! As you may know, Italians treat food like a religion - just as the French can rave about baguettes.
As a student, I had very little money and couldn't afford to eat out all the time. And yes, living away from home means your mother can't cook meals for you. But for me, it also meant a strong desire not just to eat to survive, but also to enjoy. And there was the Italian neighbor who was always ready to share his secrets for making authentic Italian pasta, a great help. Still, I started with failed omelets and pasta disasters were initially the order of the day. My culinary attempts were as funny as they were chaotic. But every burnt pancake was also a lesson. A big thank you to you, Andrea, without you it would have been a hundred times harder!
Gradually, my cooking skills improved. So much so that one day I even received praise from Andrea.
Nevertheless, I did not initially lose my passion for my career aspiration of entrepreneurship. For me, cooking was a hobby, albeit one that was just becoming really interesting.
Time passed and I moved from France to Oxford to continue my studies there. I diligently studied business administration, but my pots, pans, and other kitchen utensils took up half the space in my dorm room.
I even became the gourmet guru on campus. My cooking skills were probably partly responsible for the number of friends around me. I mean, who can resist a man who regularly serves delicious food?
And one day, one of my fellow students said during one of the dinners I had organized: "Have you ever thought about becoming a chef? What you cooked here is insanely delicious. Honestly, sometimes restaurants don't even come close." And I joked: "No, it's just a hobby, nothing more." But the truth is, those words haven't left my mind since, and I started to wonder... What if cooking really is my thing?
To conclude, I studied in Düsseldorf and then got my first job there in the marketing department of a very large company. However, my passion for cooking remained unbroken.
Düsseldorf is now home to the third largest Japanese community in Europe, right after London and Paris. Incredible, isn't it? It's like stumbling upon a piece of Japan right in the middle of Germany. Immermannstraße in Düsseldorf is not just any street – it is the epicenter of Little Tokyo", where you can find a variety of Japanese cafés and restaurants, and of course I visited them as often as possible.
I was so fascinated by Japanese cuisine that I decided to take a vacation in the homeland of this fascinating cuisine – Japan!
I have always been up for travel adventures, and Japan is simply extraordinary! It seamlessly combines modern technology with the richness of its culture. The Japanese food culture is also exceptional. People practically celebrate food. And it's mainly about the quality of the ingredients and how healthy the food is. It's as if the Japanese have cracked the code on how to stay healthy while enjoying culinary delights.
The love for detail in Japanese cuisine is overwhelming. I'm talking about everything that is handmade – miso, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Visiting a miso manufactory was an eye-opener. You begin to understand the subtleties and complexity of artisanal production, and afterwards, you appreciate the products in a completely different way.
It is advisable to travel Japan from south to north, as each region has its own ideas of delicious food and its own traditions, which have partly been influenced by the very different climatic conditions.
In the southern regions like Okinawa and other coastal areas, it's all about rice fields, herbs, spices, and an abundance of seafood, thanks to the proximity of the sea and the pleasantly warm climate.
In the central regions, places like Kyushu and Honshu, the culinary scene is very diverse. They cultivate rice, vegetables, and fruits, but also catch all kinds of fish and seafood from the sea.
Up in the north of Hokkaido, where it is very cold, products adapted to the colder climate are served, such as potatoes, barley, dairy products.
My vacation trips through Japan were taste adventures for me. I remember, for example, how I ate cartilage together with Japanese friends. For Japanese people, this texture is a delicacy. And I began to get to know the mysterious umami. Japanese people talk a lot about it, but at first it was hard for me to understand exactly what they meant. And if you haven't understood it yet, what do you do with a statement like "this sauce has twice as much umami"?
When I returned to Germany, I noticed how my experiences in Japan influenced my daily cooking: A bit of dashi on the pizza - I found it much tastier that way. A bit of black miso in the stew with beef shanks, giving the stew a whole new dimension.
At some point, I felt the burning desire to pursue my true passion professionally: cooking. I was lucky and was able to start directly in a restaurant with fusion cuisine and learn there. It then took several more years of training in various positions to become the head chef...
During the training, I understood what incredible skills chefs develop in their training. How finely professional chefs perceive flavors! How important texture can be! How much thought they put into the composition of recipes! How difficult and at the same time exciting it is to develop innovative recipes. How elaborate it is to arrange a plate attractively!
Now I want to take you on an equally exciting gastronomic journey. So get started and join in to get to know Chefino's kitchen!
