About the name

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Gourmari is a play on my name (Mari, which is short for Marion) and Gourmet (referring to a person with a refined culinary taste or who is knowledgeable in the art and craft of preparing food – I’d like to think both criteria apply to me).

A bit of blog history

A vegetarian for over half of my life, I was diagnosed with celiac disease in April of 2013 after dealing with a bout of medical issues. As a vegetarian I always found it easy to eat at home, as a guest in other people’s houses or in restaurants (the latter two not always politically correct and animal-friendly). Then, in having to consider the additional gluten-free component, eating at all seemed extraordinarily hard during the first few weeks of my new, but permanent, diet. Even my very firm cooking skills didn’t seem to help much at first. (Turns out I needn’t have worried, my favorite dishes were often gluten-free anyway! ) That’s when I started blogging!

Why I created Gourmari.com

I decided to blog, because I wasn’t finding sufficient satisfactory answers to my problem even after hours of research. In August 2013, feeling I had a more solid knowledge, I created the original version of this blog: Vegetarian – and Gluten free! (then still hosted by WordPress.com) to document my culinary journey and to show that living a vegetarian and gluten-free life is both enriching and healthy.

Having to cook gluten-free (and thus being forced to leave my comfort zone) has really expanded my culinary horizon. Giving up on stir-fries, falafel or finding the best vegetarian burger recipe after failing to prepare them earlier in life was no longer an option. I had to keep trying (with the help of proper research and the advice of experts) until I nailed it – or I wouldn’t be able to eat it. So far, I’ve been able to recreate gluten-free versions of all dishes I’ve wanted to eat – even spring rolls, which were once my nemesis. Yay!

What you will find on www.gourmari.com

This site shows my favorite food or flavor combinations. My recipes document my very own personal culinary journey, particularly highlights and new staples that I have tweaked in order to make them perfect in the eyes of my palate.

I want to show that food can not only be delicious and fun to prepare, and that simple, home-prepared meals have high potential to satiate you and to create long-term happiness. You can thus find recipes of my life-long favorites here on www.gourmari.com

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I hope that everyone who is interested in cooking themselves a delicious meal will find inspiration, be it in terms of a rough idea to follow up on or by actually cooking a recipe on the blog step-by-step.

What you won’t find here

My recipes are vegetarian and gluten-free, but I’m not seeking to propagate a certain life-style or way of eating.

What drives this blog

I’m on an eternal quest to find new flavors and flavor-combinations and often draw on my multicultural background (my mother is Bolivian and I grew up all over the world) and my husband’s meal requests for inspiration. I constantly attempt to expand my culinary horizon and to familiarize myself with cooking techniques from cultures other than my own or the countries I have lived in. I find this effort both challenging and fun and a place of growth. I discover new tastes, preparation modes and dishes while travelling, eating out at restaurants, at the tables of friends, in cookbooks or by coincidence.

What if I’m vegan?

I also cook and eat vegan meals (which are obviously also lactose-, casein- and egg-free). Many originally vegetarian dishes can easily be prepared in a vegan version. If and when this is the case, I’ve categorized them with the vegan option.

I’ve read your blog. Now gimme more!

Want to check up on me in real-time? Check out my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter-feeds!