Hi, I’m Aya! I got into cooking before I could even walk… or so I’d been told.
When you think about it, cooking has all of the ingredients of a heroic journey.
This journey typically features a young apprentice who is full of optimism but struggles to complete simple tasks such as chopping down an onion.
At first, the apprentice fails to see the limitations imposed by her own eagerness which leads her onto a path of confusion, frustration, and many overcooked meals.
However, as time goes on, she overcomes her inner struggles and learns the value of patience and perseverance which help her immensely.
As her journey continues, she becomes well-versed in the forbidden arts of broiling, braising, and searing meats.
Until one day, she’s finally able to cook one meal that satisfies all of her family, friends, and relatives.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
We all have that one recipe that caught everyone by surprise and made all of those sweaty hours in the kitchen worthwhile.
about Aya
I live and cook in Eastern Bulgaria, where food has always been closely tied to family, season, and the way things are actually done at home.
I grew up with Bulgarian and Balkan cooking, and many of the dishes I make today come from that same household tradition. Things like our Banitsa, Leek pie, shredded potato casserole with feta cheese, Pork with sauerkraut, and, of course, seafood are foods I’m genuinely familiar with from our own kitchen.
That’s particularly important to me when I share Bulgarian food. I’m not trying to present one household’s version as the only “authentic” way to make something.
Although there’s an ongoing debate in the Balkans where most of the dishes originated from, we all technically eat different versions of the same things.
Traditional Balkan cuisine includes a wide range of foods and recipes, some originating from as far as the Middle East, and generally falls into the Mediterranean cuisine and diet. As such, we Bulgarians regularly eat our own spin offs of recipes that worldwide may be more popular as German, Italian, Greek and Turkish. Cuisine-wise these countries have always had a better marketing than our tiny Bulgaria, so don’t be surprised if our food seems similar.
But I don’t cook only Bulgarian food.
Part of the fun of cooking for me is trying food from elsewhere, figuring out how it works, and making it myself. That includes everything from pasta and barbecue-inspired recipes to sweets and American-style sauces. When I publish a recipe as something we’ve made or tested, it has actually been through our kitchen – whether it comes from a family tradition or from something completely new to me.
I don’t have a favorite cuisine style and love them all equally as long as it’s delicious (is this even possible?).
But enough about my culinary background!
A fun fact about me is that I’m now in my early thirties and I still don’t know how to ride a bike.
One thing beside cooking I’m really passionate about is gardening. In my ideal world I’d grow 100% of my food myself and then cook it. This is not the case in real life, however, as currently I look after a couple of succulents and some other non-demanding houseplants. One day though!
Quick trivia about me:
- If I could be any animal: A red panda, obviously
- My favorite flower: Passiflora
- Something I regret: Honestly, not starting this blog earlier…
- Hours of sleep I need each night to feel good: Probably twel..ahem, eight.
- Do I dream when I sleep: Only if it’s crippling nightmares
my goal with oneReCP
Ever since I made my signature Mushroom Risotto, I’ve been pursuing different ways to perfect my recipes so no one at my dinner table is left unsatisfied.
Of course, things don’t always go smoothly. Cooking experience is built from meals that work, meals that don’t, adjustments you make the next time, and eventually knowing what you’re looking for without having to think much about it.
That’s a big part of what I want to bring to OneReCP.
For the foods I know from home, I want to share how we actually cook them – including the little decisions and family habits that often never make it into a formal recipe. When we’re developing or trying something new, I want to share what actually happened in our kitchen instead of pretending every recipe arrived perfectly formed on the first attempt (wow, I wish…).
The same applies to our cooking guides and informational articles. We combine hands-on experience, our own testing and observations, original photos and videos where they’re useful, and outside research when a question genuinely needs it. We try to be clear about the difference between something we’ve personally done or observed and something we’ve learned through research.
That’s really the goal of oneReCP: useful cooking information grounded in real cooking.
All of my articles are listed here if you’d like to browse them sorted by date of publishing.
my top 7 tips for new cooks
- Any combination of two or more of the following will always taste amazing: potatoes, feta cheese, the Savory herb, and garlic.
- Read the recipe in full before you start cooking. The key to perfect execution often lies in the additional notes, instructions or tips within the text. Just skimming over the recipe card is not enough as sometimes the golden nuggets lie in the body of the article.
- Combine salty and sweet in the same dish. This may sound outrageous to some but it’s actually a well-established technique in Chinese cuisine for example. And for a reason. You won’t believe how good macaroni with just feta cheese and some sugar taste (my grandma’s quick dinner solution).
- If you want juicy meat cook at lower temperatures. Sear the meat if you want it crispy on the outside and ALWAYS blot it with a paper cloth before searing. Searing wet meat is prone to failure and not-so-great browning.
- Get a food thermomether. This will help you tremendously if you’re a punctual person and happen to always overcook or undercook your food.
- If you’re cooking something that’s done fast like fried eggs or chicken drumsticks for example, make sure you set everything up before you put the food on the stove top. This way you won’t spend valuable time looking for that one spice while your food is already overcooking.
- Try to make your own sauces and salad dressings. Most sauces really are best when prepared fresh and some of them require surprisingly few ingredients. You can’t go wrong with a homemade mild Buffalo wing sauce or its garlic parmesan alternative.
follow OneReCP.com on social media
If you’d like to connect with me on social media and stay up to date with our content you can follow OneReCP.com on Pinterest, and Facebook, and also subscribe to our YouTube channel.
I also expect you to tag me if you end up trying one of my cooking tips or recipes!
got any questions for me?
If you are looking to get help with a recipe or have a general question about my blog check our FAQ help center.
If you want to ask something about a recipe or article that I’ve published:
Please leave a comment in the comments section of the article or recipe post! Comments are way more convenient for me to answer and also other readers will be able to benefit from our discussion! I do try to answer every single comment.
contact me
If you have any other questions, email me at recpadmin[@]onerecp.com.
How soon I answer will depend on the volume of emails I’ve received that day! 🙂