The seas and the oceans of the world is home to more species of animals and plants than land. In fact our planet is called the blue planet because it is covered mostly by water. So it is no wonder that the sea is also a source for so many great ingredients and can be an source for a lovely Italian meal.

I am a self confessed meatatarian- I do not usually eat vegetables and seafood. To me leaves and something that does not walk are boring. But again I was dead wrong. Seafood ingredients need to be treated the Italian way- always fresh coming into the kitchen. There is nothing better than tasting the pacific ocean on your tuna steak or the sweetness of the alaskan shores with your scallops. This is what makes fress ingredients great- you do not have to manipulate the flavor that much because it is already rich in its naturally fresh flavor.

Taking on seafood was a bit of a challenge for me and both an eye opener in the end. It allowed me to hone my skill on some cooking methods I don't usually use with meat like baking and pan searing. It also allowed me to practice my knife skills in filleting. I found out cooking seafood is not that hard and not boring at all. The one thing to remember is to make sure your sauce (if ever you are using a sauce) does not over power the taste of your fish, shrimp, scallop or whatever seafood because this defeats the whole purpose of preparing the dish. Seafood ingredients make for a fun dinner also because of the many flavors you can prepare it with. I have tried a very lemony and mild flavored dish, I also tried a tomato based dish and also a balsamic based sauce on a scallop dish. Another thing I realized while cooking these dishes was that my dislike for seafood was based soley on ignorance- i always thought seafood was all about fried fish and steamed crabs but it is more than that. It is way way more than that.

Cooking seafood is about brining out the bounty and the beauty of the sea. It is about showcasing the magic that it holds through the stunning flavors of your dish and the endless platting ideas you can come up with. Since I started cooking seafood dishes I have more respect for those who can do magic with a fish.

What I love to do with pork is braise it...braise it with anything: wine, milk, tomato sauce, broth or any other liquid concoction that enhances its flavor. Braise it until it is tender or until the meat falls off its bone. As a Filipino, I grew up loving pork but only in very limited varieties- mostly the elusive lechon (roast pork), or the pork adobo and pork asado. I never knew though that Pork could be more than lechon or adobo.

Pork may not be in the same level as beef but it does most of the things beef can do. I would not consider it though as a poor man's substitute for beef because there are a lot of pork dishes that are as elegant and expensive as most beef dishes. One thing I like most about pork is how easy it is to manage the meats tenderness. It does not take as much time as beef to achieve the same tenderness. In Italian cooking pork is very common as most peasants find it more affordable than beef. There are also a lot of game variety for pork in Italian cooking.

When you are setting up dinner for friends and family and want to be safe but still impress, then pork is the way to go. The meat is an easy fill for those who are hungry and the sauces you can incorporate with it will satisfy those who are particular about flavor- hell you can even impress your crush with some savvy plating.

The pictures here are some of the pork dishes I have already made before.

Most professional chef's consider chicken as the food of choice for the indecisive. Some even go far as saying that chicken is a boring ingredient. But why? mainly because its just a big piece of white meat with feathers with no real distinct taste/flavor.

The chicken that you eat in Mc Donalds will taste the same as the chicken you eat in your Michelin starred restaurant- let me be clear on this: I mean the chicken itself the meat not the chicken dish. It is not like fish that has so many varieties and each one has its distinct flavor and texture. Hell even beef has its distinct varieties- depending on how it was fed, raised and buthcered.

Chicken on the other hand is plain and simple- thigh, drumstick, wing, breast. This is why chicken has both its mass appeal and its sorry reputation inside a professional kitchen. But I love it.

To me the simplicity and plainness of chicken is what gives it its mass appeal. For someone who loves home-cooking chicken is my best friend because I know from the beginning what the final taste will be. This, however, does not mean that there is no room for creativity with chicken- that is a very bad misconception.

Chicken, due to its simplicity, can carry different kinds of flavor allowing you to be very creative in your sauces. It also gives you room to play around with texture depending on how you cook the meat and with what you baste it with. You can have a very simple Chicken Cacciatora or a very elegant Whole Boned chicken with Beef and Parmesan Stuffing (i will try this soon). There are also hundreds of dishes that incorporate game birds on the dish widening the variety of flavor one can create with chicken or birds. The spectrum of flavor and texture is so wide that I find it so hard to understands why many chef's (even anthony bourdain) find chicken as boring.

The pictures here are some of the chicken dishes I have already made- notice the variety of the sauces incorporated in the different dishes- chicken is a great ingredient, and it can create magic in your kitchen.