Hi! I’m Adam. Welcome to my site. I’m an experienced recipe developer, test cook, writer and journalist. I’ve worked for many national food magazines and websites. This site is designed to provide magazine-quality recipes for the home cook. That means I develop, test, style and photograph all these recipes using my professional background in food media. My goal is to inspire you to elevate your home cooking, learn why the ingredients of each recipe matter, and maybe pick up a few new techniques along the way.
My Professional Food Background: I’ve worked in various roles in food media for nearly a decade, most recently as a test kitchen manager and lead recipe developer. My recipes and writing have appeared in the glossy pages of national food magazines, including Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Real Simple, EatingWell, Fine Cooking, Southern Living, The Spruce Eats and more. In addition to numerous websites, I’ve also tested and developed recipes for cookbooks. Prior to food media, I worked as a line cook in restaurants and was a newspaper and magazine reporter.
Education: I graduated top of my class from the Culinary Institute of America (I don’t mean to brag here, but I worked extremely hard to be as successful as possible at culinary school!). I also have a BA in Mass Communications with a focus on journalism from the State University of New York, College at Oneonta. And while earning my BA, I also studied abroad at Middlesex University in London (I studied film and it was the best semester of my life!)
What is The Real Recipes?: To put it simply, I built this website because I saw a hole in digital food media for elevated, magazine-quality recipes that are accessible for the home cook. That means these recipes should feel a little unique, a little special yet fuss-free and approachable for a home cook. I want to teach you how to turn basic ingredients into something you’d be proud to serve family and friends.
My Food Philosophy: This may rub some people the wrong way, but I do not consider cooking an art. Sure, it is creative and expressive, but it’s my opinion that cooking is more of a craft. Again, this is my opinion, but food should be pleasing to the senses! With that in mind, my philosophy about food is to respect ingredients, learn from classic techniques and look for ways to explore new flavors.
Girl Dad: I have two young daughters that, beside my incredibly supportive wife (seriously, she has more faith in me than anyone), are the loves of my life. They are full of energy and both of them love to cook with me, especially my eldest. The newborn phase was quite tough for me, but once I could cook for them (and especially once I could cook with them), we bonded! I’m the primary cook at home and even though it’s also my day job, feeding my family brings me incredible joy.
Outside of Food: I LOVE music. Like, with an (maybe?) unhealthy passion! I play guitar for my girls every chance I get and there’s always music playing in the house. If I could do anything else besides food with my life, it’d be music. I also love to write and I’m always working on a short story or novel (they’ll likely never see the light of day, but I love the process!). We live in Vermont and spend a lot of time outside, hiking, skiing, exploring, etc. And when the ground isn’t frozen, I’m in our garden.
Want to get in touch? Find me on social media (links below) or send me an email at adam@therealrecipes.com.
All headshots by Oliver Parini.