ABOUT THIS COOK:

I could eat a whole hamburger at age one and grew up on salami and olive tapenade sandwiches when everybody else ate PB&J. I've been food obsessed since birth. My family lived in Singapore when I was in junior high, and I lived in Chile for a year in college. I am a brave eater who loves comfort food from all over the world. I started cooking when I was young, but I became a full fledged addict in medical school. When other people were at the gym or at the bar to blow off steam, I was in the kitchen poaching salmon and whipping egg whites. Now I'm a second year obstetrics and gynecology resident at one of the busiest obstetric wards in the country, and even though I bring myself a nice lunch to work almost everyday, I usually inhale it from a stained tupperware while standing. I love getting my hands dirty both at work and at home, and nothing is more therapeutic for me than coming home after a long day and turning on the stove. Whether it's a C-section or a chicken, I love to cut! But by far the most fun part of cooking is feeding others. What greater joy is there than bringing over enchiladas and margaritas for friends on a languid Texas August afternoon?

• What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
  Raw Beaver Carpaccio in Patagonia, Chile

• What do you cook when home alone?
  refried beans with all the fixings (that's what moving to Texas did to me)

• Your most treasured kitchen possession:
  Le Creuset Dutch Oven

• The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
  4