Manuel Villacorta - The Essential Cookbook for Men: 85 Healthy Recipes to Get Started in the Kitchen

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Interior and Designer: Brian Lewis

Art Producer: Sue Bischofberger

Editor: David Lytle

Production Editor: Mia Moran

Photography 2019 Thomas J. Story. Food styling by Karen Shinto.

ISBN: Print 978-1-64152-908-2 | eBook 978-1-64152-909-9

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At the age of 20, I moved to the United States from my home in Peru. As a young man whose mother used to cook all of his meals for him at home, I had no idea what I was doing in the kitchen. So, naturally, I went out regularly to eat. Eating out took some adjusting because, back in Peru, we all sat down as a family to have almuerzo , which was our regularly scheduled lunchtime. Unlike a typical lunch, it was more like a grand dinner feast. So, going out to have a meal alone and at sporadic times was an odd practice, to say the least.

After a year of living in the US, I missed my mothers cooking and its connection with almuerzo, and honestly, I was just tired of eating out. Being from Peru, the food I ate in American restaurants was often unfamiliar. I also realized I was spending way too much money, which is hard for a young foreigner. I wrote a letter to my mother (yes, people wrote letters before there was email and Facebook) and asked her to send me my favorite recipes from home. Not only would home-cooked meals take the stress off of my wallet, I knew I needed to learn to cook if I wanted to enjoy the quality of foodas well as the act of eating and the relationship with foodthat I had in my younger years.

Since childhood, Ive always wanted to help people. In the wake of my eye-opening American adventure, I enrolled at UC Berkeley to complete an undergraduate degree in premed to follow a healing path. At the same time, I began using my mothers recipes, and I slowly taught myself to cook. It definitely wasnt easy at first, but I quickly figured things out on my own through mistakes and downright culinary failures. For example, I learned that I shouldnt cook meat on the highest setting unless I wanted dry, burned chicken that was like the Sahara in your mouth. My most important lesson was learning how to make food taste better without adding large amounts of fat, sugar, or salt by instead accenting with more herbs and spices.

In any case, food became my primary interest as I was simultaneously learning all about the human body. Quite organically, the two worlds collided. I came to understand that what we eat is at the root of form, function, and diseasethe cause and the cureand that my healing quest would come through food. It was my aha moment! Its when I knew my medical path would turn toward dietetics. So, literally, you could say that cooking changed my life. To this end, ever since I became a registered dietitian, I have been promoting cooking at home.

Now I am honored and excited to introduce The Essential Cookbook for Men and help guide you through your kitchen, avoiding the mistakes of 20-year-old me. I look forward to sharing my wisdom and culinary skills with you. This cookbook is a delicious way to learn to cook if you are just starting out and will give you skills to last a lifetime. Expect to reboot your gut, improve your total health, and have more energy. Get ready to experience a lifelong journey that will keep you strong, healthy, rejuvenated, and empowered to take control of your health right in your own kitchen.