The story of my life starts in a faraway land, a long, long time ago (not that far, and not that long -_-).

I was born in Cuba to two missionary parents. I traveled the country with them as they established ministries. From a very young age I was interested in food, from the gathering of ingredients to the cooking of them. As with most Hispanic families, most holidays and events centered around having a big family feast. I still remember how it used to be a party when a pig was slaughtered. Neighbors would work together to butcher the pig, cook it, and preserve the meat in the rendered fat. We kids used to run around playing all day, and snacking on chicharrones or masas fritas. From a very young age I was exposed to many different foods, mostly due to necessity, but in a way it has made me fearless when it comes to trying new things.

Fast forward 13 years, and my family and I immigrated to the United States. Here I was exposed to cuisines from around the world. As a highschooler, I discovered the Food Network and fell in love with Italian and French cuisine. I tried every recipe I could see on TV or many from cooking books I could get my hands on (back then it was a dark, horrible time, when internet was not that common; I refer to the pre-internet period of my life as the Dark Ages).

Later, in my college years, I developed a passion for Asian cuisines (namely Japanese and Korean). I finally broke away from the Hispanic shackle of over-cooking foods, and was finally able to enjoy sushi or a medium-rare steak.

Now, my cooking style is a fusion of all of these cuisines.

Which brought around the idea of making a blog about Bentos.

A Bento is a Japanese packed lunch. The reason I am so fascinated by them is that in a small box (usually about 6″ long) you get to pack a very varied, usually healthy, lunch. You have your starch as the foundation, such as rice or pasta, then you have a main dish, such as fish or meat, and then you fill the rest of the space with as many sides as possible: vegetables, fritters, fruits — the world is your oyster here. What I thought would be interesting was to make fusion bentos. Japanese, Cuban, Italian, French… anything goes!

And who are the lucky people who get to eat all of this food, you might ask? My family! I live with my husband, toddler and sister. And they love every bite, or else (o_O)

As time passes this blog has evolved to include my travel adventures, reviews of some interesting restaurants I find myself in sometimes, and well anything else that catches my fancy. I like to think of this blog as my creative space/journal/travel adventure log and hope you can all come along for the ride and enjoy some of my adventures with me!

— Silvia Andrito