My journey for new food ideas and cooking methods never ends, but it has come to a jaw-dropping stand still today because of what Michel told me.

I’ve been searching for new food ideas because my cooking has become boring, lazy and stale. I know there’s more to the culinary world than my typical American diet of meat, potatoes and vegetable.

I’ve searching Spain for inspiration to bring home to my kitchen. I’m confident in my cooking METHODS, I know HOW to cook and this empowers me to find ingredients I may never have tried before.

With this in mind, the first of many food ideas I discovered in Spain was Tapas.

My cooking strategy changed when I started to think about smaller portions but greater variety as is found on the two-bite tapa throughout the country.

If you missed my last video, you can still view New Cooking Ideas From Spain.

I realize that I’ve cooked with ham before, but it’s always the same bland water-added product you find everywhere. However, once I discovered Spanish Jamon, ALL my cooking changed. My expectation of what a pork product should be changed completely.

Now, I use more flavorful jamon in my cooking like I showed in my video Why I Won’t Be Cooking Ham Anymore.

I’ve accepted new food ideas into my repertoire and felt quite satisfied, until I met Michel at The Gilda Restaurant in Barcelona. Michel put an entirely different perspective on ALL I’d learned and spun my head in confusion once again.

Michel puts fried shrimp on basil ice cream with pesto sauce and calls it dessert!

One of his food ideas is to pair lamb chops with a spicy chimichurri sauce and serve it over tandoori mashed potatoes! He’s like a mad scientist of flavors, colors and textures on a plate!

This Spanish trip has re-ignited my desire to cook and explore with new ingredients. I’ve come away with new food ideas, but more importantly a new perspective on cooking from another culture’s point of view.

I’m now feeling like a culinary Columbus, having discovered a new world of unique ingredients, but also a WAY of combining flavors, textures, and colors in food like I’ve never witnessed before.

Hopefully, it will inspire you to use dependable METHODS of cooking but be adventurous with the foods and ingredients you choose. This is where the new food ideas will come from in your home.

You start cooking in an inspired way just like Michel when you join me for my FREE online webinar workshop, “International Food Finds: Discovering Global Inspirations for New and Exciting Meals at Home.”

Hold your spot in the FREE webinar by clicking HERE.