Rebekah is a California girl, born and bred, but I grew up in a little town in Illinois, and my geographical boundaries were Lake Michigan, corn fields and factories. It was a time and a place where there was almost zero opportunity to experience exotic foods, flavors and cuisines. Butsince I was a boy, I just naturally craved the exotic… coconut, limes, mint, spices,and the smell of garlic and ginger. Thai and Vietnamese meals have all that stuff,and when I figured that out in college and beyond, those are the restaurants Iwould always seek out… and I learned from all those meals how to make them.
