051 - Nic Sawa - It's a good thing food tastes so good, because we have to do it so often!

Nic cultivated a love of cooking at an early age cooking with his grandmother and mother. This passion was fueled even farther when Nic got his first job at the age of fourteen. Nic started out his culinary career working for a Mom and Pops burger stand in his home town. Dairy Mart has been a community fixture in the small farm town of Huntley since the 1960s and still is to this day. 

After a few years Nic’s desire to learn more drove him to another small family owned restaurant. Nic worked in a small Italian restaurant and pizzeria for a year before joining the military. Having access to all the different cooking equipment at the pizzeria to play with instilled a curiosity in Nic for the Art of Cooking. How one ingredient can be transformed so many ways simply by cooking with different tools and techniques.

After his military service Nic continued to study cooking and Baking on his own while attending College, working construction and working in several restaurants. After College, Nic attended a masters program at the Italian Culinary Institute in Southern Italy. This gave Nic the opportunity to fully jump into his passion of learning about the Art of Cooking from several different Masters in their fields. From Bread baking to pastry making, from cheese making to salami making, even conserving and preserving all sorts of fruits and vegetables. 

As Nic traveled around Italy and Ireland studying how to cook he has come to understand that what we cook and why we cook is just as important as how to cook, but often over look. Here in the US we often turn to convince foods that are often not very good for us instead of taking our time to make something nice for ourselves. Through his travels and unique working experiences Nic has made it his Mission to inspire people to take some time out of their day and appreciate their meals. Food should not be an afterthought as we run around with our busy schedules. Good, nutritional, simple food is what Nic wishes to share with you and inspire you to cook. 

Connect with him here:

chefnic13@gmail.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/nic.sawa