Chef Parisen is a classically trained chef with 20 years restaurant experience. She was introduced to cooking at an early age – her family owned a restaurant – and she grew up working in kitchens. Her earliest food memory is canning tomatoes and baking bread with her grandmother. She’s also travelled across the United States opening new restaurants, specializing in Italian and Cajun cuisine.
The science of food is incredibly important to Chef Parisen. She majored in chemistry in school and started with Unilever in the Chemistry Department. Her background has helped immensely in product development. As Chef Parisen states: “Cooking is a form of chemistry!”
Her approach to food is simple – start with great ingredients and do as little as possible to the food to let the natural flavor be the star. She keeps this close to heart when preparing seafood, her favorite type of cuisine to cook.
Chef Parisen has worked on Knorr for two years, creating the recipes for three favorite rice sides: Baby Back Ribs, Buffalo, and Steak Fajita. She also assisted in the development of Knorr Homestyle Stock, a product she thinks is a fantastic innovation.
Special skill:
I’ve smoked meats in my backyard for more than 10 years.
Essential kitchen ingredient:
Lemons, limes and fresh herbs.
Worst kitchen disaster:
My fryer burst into flames. It was so hot that every time I put the fire out it re-ignited.
If I wasn’t a chef I’d be:
An archaeologist.
Advice for home chefs:
Use recipes as a guideline. They aren’t written in stone and should be modified to suit your own tastes and preferences.
Best kitchen shortcut or tip:
Clean as you go, so you’ll spend less time cleaning at the end.
One dish to eat the rest of my life:
Any kind of soup.
On my days off you can find me:
Shopping at farmer’s markets, cooking at home, and swimming.