Interview with Cooking Diva
Chef Melissa is from Panam� , where she is the founder and executive chef of Panam� Gourmet, Inc., a culinary consulting firm providing innovative products and services for prestigious industry clientele. A graduate of the US Personal Chef Institute and certified by the US Personal Chef Association, Melissa has trained professionally in the US, Mexico, Panam� , South America, Europe, and Asia. In 2002 she traveled to Bangkok, Thailand for an intensive Thai cooking course at the internationally renowned Oriental Hotel Cooking School. In addition to running her company, she also shares her passion for cuisine through cooking classes, television appearances, and adventures throughout the southern hemisphere. We’re especially fond of her online culinary journal, The Cooking Diva Blog. The name says it all.
Simon Owens: Would you say that you have a specific realm of expertise when it comes to cooking, or do you like to try recipes from all cultures and walks of life?
Cooking Diva: I am a professional gourmet-world traveler and connoisseur. The fact that I have spent endless hours training in cooking schools all over the world and cooking my butt off in every kitchen I am allowed to visit, is no reason to set me aside of the crowd, right? To answer your question, YES, I love to try recipes from all cultures and walks of life 
Simon Owens: I’ve noticed that photos of cooked food have a very picturesque quality to them. Do you think that by posting the pictures of the food you cook, it motivates your readers more to try the recipes?
Cooking Diva: I am a very visual person, IF I like what I see, then I’ll eat it. It is very important to get the message to our readers, in our case, we do it through delicious looking pictures.
Simon Owens: How often do you invent your own recipes? And how often do you try to improve or modify the recipes of others?
Cooking Diva: Once in a hundred years I follow somebodyelse’s recipe to the end. It is a tough thing to do anyway. Sometimes I “find inspiration” somewhere else, but the ultimate product is always mine.
Simon Owens: What are the five blogs everyone should be reading (besides your own)?
Cooking Diva: that’s an easy one (in no particular order):
El Oso-NET
Gallery of the Absurd
Global Voices
TecnoChica
Directo al Paladar
