A few weeks ago I took on the daunting task of cleaning out my parent’s garage, I was amazed at the amount of things I had accumulated over the years. I found old magazines with Axl Rose and Kirk Cameron on the cover, complete opposites, yes I know, Axl ended up with braids and botox and Kirk is a bible thumper.  It took me three weekends to finish the job and for three weekends I took a trip down memory lane.

Some of the best things I found were love letters by ex boyfriends, high school notes from my friends, and one note in particular that was dated April 17, 1990. It was written by my oldest and closest friend Lalig, in the note she thanked me for the delicious “Macaron,” dinner that I had made for her the night before. I read the note a few times and realized that this must have been my first or second time cooking that dish, or any dish at all for that matter, we were in the 8^th grade.

It was then that not just food but the preparation of it became a part of my world, a world which at that time consisted of Lalig and I discovering how amazing The Clash was, wondering why Jim Morrison was dead and I was daydreaming about whether I was going to marry Axl Rose or Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction.

I always wondered about my culinary roots, my decision to go to culinary school was made on an early August morning while on a Supershuttle in Manhattan. I was riding around with a Jamaican driver who was blasting the radio, the car smelled like cigarettes and my thoughts were drifting, I was contemplating going to grad school. This was something that I had been thinking about for some time, I kept going back and forth in my head trying to figure out if I can go through two more years of studying and writing term papers. As we drove down Broadway the shuttle passed by the French Culinary Institute and as visions of Foi Gras danced in my head, the words “screw it, I’m going to culinary school” uncontrollably came out of my mouth. Next thing I knew, I was back home in L.A. a few weeks later researching the hell out of Culinary schools in the country, and six months after that I opened the door for the first time to my new and extraordinarily large apartment in Nob Hill, San Francisco.

The 5 year search for an answer to explain my somewhat drastic decision came to me in a form of a junior high note written by a close friend, who was the first to taste my cooking.  The note graciously reminded me that I had always been a cook, I was always trying new things and experimenting with spices which luckily for me were abundant in my mother’s kitchen. In high school, I would invite my friends over and cook Monte (Lebanese dish) for them; it would take me all day to cook the dish, and ironically it was Lalig’s mother who first taught me to make it. I still have Monte parties until today, it’s been a couple of years since the last one but by recent request’s I’m on it soon, with a recipe and photos to follow.

So you’re probably wondering what Macaron is? Macaron (pronounced like Macaroni without the ee), is what we refer to as the Armenian version of spaghetti with a tomato meat sauce. Being an Armenian from Iran this was a staple dish in my house growing up, most of my girlfiends and I until today testify that Macaron is our favorite. Each one of our mother’s used the same basic ingredients which includes groud beef, onions, garlic, tomato paste and curry powder.

Naturally, my mom’s version was what I considered to be the best and from her hands to mine the recipe has somewhat changed throughout the years, but not in character.  The character of the dish is personified by the curry powder, one of the greatest gifts to the culinary world, it makes a surprising appearance in what is traditionally an Italian inspired dish. Imagine an Italian style tomato meat sauce laced with curry powder, this love in a bowl (because eating it in anything aside from a bowl is pure blasphemy) has become one of my favorite things to cook.

Cumin, turmeric, thyme, rosemary and wine have also been invited to this pasta party that occurs in my kitchen very often, and each one has effortlessly blended in with the rest of the crowd.   The enhancement of eastern flavors is no accident since three out of my four grandparents were raised in India, aromatic spices always made their way to our table. My own passion for Indian cuisine allowed me to play a bit with the original recipe, Los Angeles has a great Indian community in Artesia, where Little India is a big treasure, its where I shop for my spices and its where I go to get lost in a culture that is familiar, warm and inspiring.

My version of Macaron takes a bit longer to make, it has more heat and spice very indicative of my own feisty nature. Since this is my first entry in Honey, I thought I would start with the beginning of my culinary life, the first dish whose versatility allowed me to experiment with my taste buds and discover a passion that has led me down the Culinary Yellow Brick Road.

Macaron

I usually like to use the hot pepper paste instead of the tomato, oddly the only paste that I can find is made in Turkey, its delicious and can be found in most Middle Eastern and Indian stores or here.

Yield: 6 servings

3 tbsp Olive oil

1 onion chopped, small dice

3 garlic cloves minced

1 to 1 ¼ pound of ground beef, about 8-12% fat

¼ – ½ tsp of kosher salt

1/4 – 1/2 tsp Jalapeño pepper, small dice

¼ tsp of cumin and turmeric

½ tsp of curry powder, depends on how much curry flavor you like

2 tsp each of fresh thyme, rosemary, oregano and basil, chopped small

3 tsp tomato paste or hot pepper paste

1 medium sized can of crushed tomatoes

¼ c red wine

2-3 small to medium Red potato sliced lengthwise ¼ inch thick

¼ tsp parsley chopped (optional)

2/3 pack of regular to thin spaghetti 12 oz. pack

1. In a medium saucepan heat 2 tbsp of the oil and sauté the onions with until opaque about 4-6 minutes, add the garlic.

2. Add ground beef and mince with a wooden spoon and cook on medium heat until meat turns brown 1-2 minutes, mixing and mincing well.

3. Add salt and the following 4 ingredients and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add the paste, crushed tomatoes and wine, cover and cook on medium to low heat for 30 minutes.

5. While the meat cooks, boil the pasta (al dente) and cut the potatoes, once meat is cooked, in a separate bowl mix together drained pasta and meat.

6. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the same saucepan that the meat was cooking in and  line the bottom of the pan with the cut potatoes. Transfer meat pasta mixture to saucepan and cook over low-medium heat about 12-15 minutes testing to see if potatoes have crisped.

7. To serve, place a large plate over the saucepan place one hand under the plate flip the pan over. Another way is to scoop out the pasta and individually place potatoes on top of the plate, garnish with parmesan and parsley.

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