About
My name is Jonathan Melendez and this is my site. It is a site for anyone and everyone who loves food as much as I do. This isn’t your normal every day food site. Sure, it has recipes and photos like all the other food sites out there. But what sets The Candid Appetite apart, is the countless hours, hard work, photographs, and dedication that go into creating each post. Some might call it a blog—and to a certain extent it is a blog—it is a food blog, but it so much more than just a blog. The Candid Appetite is a photographic encyclopedia of all things food and cooking. Here, cooking and photography collide to create a food site mecca where beginners can learn how to cook and bake. Now I know what you might be thinking,”Learning to cook from a site is impossible.” Yes learning to cook online, without the use of videos, solely based on images, can be difficult. But here at The Candid Appetite it is not only possible, it is incredibly easy. What makes it so effortless you might ask? In part, it is due to the detailed recipes and basic instructions but more importantly it is because of the full color and vivid step-by-step images that make up each post. These photographs make the recipes easier to follow. No one can be stumped or confused because each step is depicted in step by step. Cooking techniques, terms, equipment, and ingredients are demystified and explained in detail. The Candid Appetite is not just for the novice home cook. The most experienced chefs and foodies can also enjoy the photos and recipes for what they are. A collection of recipes that I have gathered from all around. Recipes from my favorite foodies, books, sites, and articles. More importantly recipes that I created myself and have become instant favorites in my home. These images, notes, words, and recipes are a collection of me. For if there is one thing that I have learned, it is that cooking must come from the heart.
I grew up, the youngest of three. As a child, living in a household filled with women taught me one thing, and that was to never make the mistake that women belonged in the kitchen. I learned to defy the boundaries and my mother encouraged me to explore my passion and curiosity of food and the process behind cooking it. Being in the kitchen was always a fun and exciting hobby of mine, since the very early stages of my life. After years of experience working in the food industry, a small stint in culinary school, and the launch of my baking and catering company, now at the age of 25, I have come a long way from those early days and messes. I recently graduated from California State University Northridge with a degree in photography. The Candid Appetite has given me the opportunity to share with you all my two passions in life; cooking and photography. Nothing makes me happier than being able to share with you the recipes that I make at home, on a daily basis, for my family and friends. For me, cooking is not about complicated ingredients or complex steps. It’s about creating simple and delicious recipes that are easy to make and that gather people together in order to create those memories that we’ll cherish forever.
Contact Me:
jonathan [at] candidappetite [dot] com
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