About

I am the Blind Cook.

I love to eat.

Who doesn’t? But I have a real obsession with food. Some call us foodaphiles, chowhounds, foodies. I don’t know which is the proper term; all I know is I enjoy good food. And good food doesn’t necessarily equate with holes burned in the wallet–after all, McDonald’s isn’t one of the most recognized icons in the world for no reason.

I love to cook.

No respectable food obsession would go without a love for cooking. My mother was a wonderful cook but I didn’t grow up in the kitchen tiptoeing over the stove, watching her simmer and taste the broth. Instead, I was one of those who went off to college armed with only the knowledge of how to fry an egg and boil instant ramen. I didn’t even know how to steam rice in an automatic rice cooker. But once I moved from the dorm with its plentiful cafeteria into an apartment with an empty fridge, I had to learn something beyond my current repertoire at the time. (There were only so many combinations of eggs and ramen one could handle.) I botched tons of meals back in those days, but every once in awhile, something edible (and maybe even slightly enjoyable) would come of the attempts in the kitchen, and when I saw the dull looks of food coma on my friends’ faces, I realized I also love to cook for others.

I am blind.

In 2003, I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO)–also known as Devic’s syndrome. It is similar to the more widely researched Multiple Sclerosis in that the overactive immune system causes nerve impulses to misfire, often resulting in vision loss and paralysis. While MS tends to affect the brain, however, Devic’s mainly interrupts the optic nerves and spinal cord. The course of Devic’s is also more progressive than that of MS; full recoveries from acute attacks are less likely. After several bouts of optic neuritis, the network of nerves connecting my eyes to my brain atrophied, and my vision deteriorated to what the doctors call “counting fingers.” What I see can best be described as shadows and extreme blurriness like I’m eternally walking through a cloud. Or imagine staring into a mirror foggy with steam right after a hot shower–that’s my world.

So what do these three things determine about me and my blog? I write what I eat. I write what I cook. And I write what I taste and feel throughout these experiences, not only with food but with life in general as a sight-impaired individual. I hope you enjoy the blog and find it, at the very least, interesting and/or entertaining. I invite you, too, to feel your way through food and taste your way through life.