About
About me
I am 71 and I live in Urubamba, in the Sacred Valley of Peru. My kitchen is a small adobe room with a wood-fired stove, and I have cooked family dinners there since 1974. Almost everything I make comes from the same dozen things: native potatoes, chuño (potatoes freeze-dried in the mountain cold), quinoa, choclo (large-kernel corn), dried broad beans, ají amarillo, huacatay (a green herb like black mint), onions, eggs, fresh cheese, chicken and rice. I am not a chef and I have never wanted to be one.
Every Friday I write a short letter with one family dinner made from the shelf. It says which staples the dinner uses and how long it takes, and every dinner is for a table of several, because that is how we eat. Over a year the same dozen things turn up in a lot of different dinners, and you start to cook without looking anything up.
What I sell is what I use: the list of what I keep, a planner for the week, a sheet for the market, a guide for a big Sunday pot and a book of soups, plus two video courses. I do not run classes or cook for events. I help you cook from your own shelf in your own kitchen.
As seen in
Questions
How do the downloads arrive?
After checkout you receive an email with a download link, and the same link is shown on the confirmation page. Every file is a PDF made to print on ordinary A4 or Letter paper.
How do the video courses work?
You pay once and the lessons appear in your account straight away. Watch them in order or jump around, as often as you like, on a phone, a tablet or a laptop.
Is there merch?
Yes: aprons, totes, mugs and tea towels with my own designs. Each is printed to order and shipped to you, and the cost and delivery time show at checkout.
Do I need to be a good cook?
No. Most of the dinners are one pot and a few steps, and the first course starts with how to stock the shelf. If you can chop an onion and light a stove, you can begin.
Can I find these staples where I live?
Most of them, yes: potatoes, corn, beans, onions, eggs, cheese, chicken and rice. For chuño, ají amarillo and huacatay, every dinner names an everyday swap.
Free
Letters from the Stove
A short letter every Friday with one family dinner made from the shelf, and the time it takes.