Why Luce's Noodz?
It was lunch on my first day with new coworkers at my new job and were making small talk to get to know each other. As the new guy I was fielding most of the questions and right away someone asked me what I like to do for fun. “Cooking!” I said enthusiastically. It was the first thing that came to mind.
“What do you like to cook,” she asked. Once again I said the first thing that came to mind:
“I cook pasta a lot.” My new coworkers looked at each other momentarily and then burst out laughing.
“When you said you liked cooking I assumed you were going to say something that didn’t come with directions on the box,” one of them pointed out between giggles.
We laughed it off and the conversation moved on, but regardless of their reaction, I had been sincere. Even if the pasta came from a box I delighted in making various sauces from scratch, whether pesto or marinara, or my all-time favorite bolognese. So here I am several years later starting a cooking blog–or is it an eating blog? To be honest, I’m not entirely sure yet.
Food writing is something I’ve thought about doing for ages but never plucked up the courage, or will, to start. I never felt I could add anything to the cooking/eating/foodie community. How can I be original? Who even cares what I have to say? I went about my life, cooking and eating as my main hobby but loving it more than most other things in life. For me, cooking and eating have always gone hand in hand. When I write that down it sounds dumb, but let me try to explain.
I don’t eat to live and most of the time I don’t cook just to eat. It’s the other way around. More often than not cooking is the most fun, relaxing, or creative activity of my day. Meals are always moments I look forward to. Some days I find myself thinking about what I might cook for dinner from the moment I wake up in the morning. If there’s a meal I’m especially excited about cooking I’ll look forward to it for days and find myself daydreaming at work about the shopping list, the prep work required, and the order of operations in the kitchen. Of course, I’m generally only that excited when it’s something I’m also particularly looking forward to eating.
It’s no wonder pasta was the first dish that came to mind that day at lunch since I make and eat pasta about once a week. If I’m being honest, it would be more if I had my way. I can’t imagine getting tired of pasta or noodles, in part because of the variety, but also because of how satisfying they are to eat. I grew up eating spaghetti and meatballs, a weeknight classic that my mom or dad would prepare, and famously it’s the only thing I ordered on a family vacation in France when I was 6. When my parents and I would eat out we almost always went to Chinese or Japanese restaurants so chow mein and udon were staples.
Two years ago I went to Japan with friends and at the end of the 12-day trip we tallied up the meals we’d had. I’d eaten 8 bowls of ramen, 5 bowls of udon, and soba twice. I could have kept going too. While my buddies were talking about sushi, I was happy to go back for more noodz. If this story lends me any noodle cred, if not as a cook at least as a glutton, so be it. Several years later, at a new job, my love of, nay, obsession with, pasta is common knowledge and even a running joke around the lunch table. “What’s that you’re eating, oh pasta? Typical...” At this point I don’t mind it, I own it. Hence, Luce’s Noodz for the world to see!
But back to the question at hand: Why am I writing about my love of noodles? Why Luce’s Noodz? There’s an element of self-indulgence no doubt, and perhaps a small hope that someone might read this and get inspired or amused by what I have to say. But aside from documenting my favorite noodles and shouting from the top of internet mountain about my killer tomato sauce recipes (let’s be honest, this is at best a minor hillock), I’ve started this site for three practical reasons:
I want to be a better cook.
I want to be a better writer.
I am in desperate need of a project.
I don’t know what I’m going to cook or write about on this site, I just know I am going to cook and write as much as I can make time for. I can assure you there will be lots of noodle eating and pasta making and definitely the occasional non-noodle related foods. Actually, there’s a beautiful hidden fourth reason for the site. If I’m the only one around who wants pasta for dinner I can always say “it’s for my blog” and cook what I want anyway. But now I’ve gotten myself hungry and thirsty so it’s time to pour myself a glass of wine and raid the pantry. I’ll be back soon with crappy opinions, I mean caramelized onions, I mean...whatever.