Amanda's Bio: Cooking as a Shared Experience with Friends and Family
- Jesslyn Parrish
- Jun 1, 2021
- 2 min read
Amanda’s cooking journey began like many of us - she had family and friends who cooked, and she wanted to be able to cook as well as they did. However, the demands of daily grind made it nearly impossible for her to make time to learn beyond basic cooking skills. In her early 20s, Amanda accepted that she wouldn’t be able to improvise full meals as a chef would be able to. Instead, she became content to prepare side dishes while someone else made the main dish. When cooking on her own, Amanda focused on preparing dishes that were quick and (ideally) healthy. There wasn’t enough time in the day for Amanda to explore other cooking options - that is, until COVID-19 led to widespread shutdowns nationwide. Check out our How Amanda's Menu Began blog post for a continuation of how Amanda’s cooking background led to the inception of Amanda’s Menu.
Academic & Professional Background
Amanda holds a MS in Technical Communication from Arizona State University (ASU) and is currently a Ph.D. student in the Texts and Technology program at the University of Central Florida (UCF). She works as a graduate research assistant, with an area of specialization in scientific and technical communication. Her research interests include user-centered design and technical communication in software production. Feel free to visit Amanda’s LinkedIn page to learn more about her academic and professional background.
Memorable Meals
Amanda remembers the first time that she tried Persian food. When she was an undergraduate at ASU, her close friend, Morvarid, took her to a Middle Eastern restaurant in Tempe, AZ. Friends since middle school, Morvarid was an Iran native who frequented the restaurant and spoke Farsi with the owners. After trying Persian lamb kebabs with sumac, Amanda was hooked. After the visit where she first tried Ghormeh Sabzi, it became her favorite dish. For several years, Amanda frequented the restaurant once a week and brought other friends there to taste the incredible food.
Amanda spent years chasing the flavor of Persian cuisine. After moving to Central Florida, Ali Baba House of Kabob became her favorite place to eat. She ate there for 15 years – so much so that the owner would see her and say “Ghormeh Sabzi” to the server before they took her order. Amanda moved to Colorado in late 2019 - she has yet to try a Persian restaurant in Colorado, but she is looking forward to trying one soon!
Amanda's Culinary Favorites
Chef: Yotam Ottolenghi
Cuisine: Mexican and Middle Eastern
Drink: Dutch Chocolate Shake
Food: Pepperoni pizza from Barro’s, Wings from Josie’s, Ghormeh Sabzi
Restaurant: Barro’s Pizza (Mesa, AZ), Ali Baba House of Kabob (Longwood, FL), Josie’s Pizza & Wings (Orlando, FL), Sugarbeet (Longmont, CO)
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