Given the length of this section, feel free to skip ahead to the specific information that you may require.

Welcome!
About the professional me
How I grew up
Mari, the cook
Where I live now
Whom I share my Life with…
What I do when I don’t cook or blog
My Photog-Gear
I also blog in German
Want to get in touch? Here’s how!

Welcome!

Bonjour, I’m Mari, a gluten-free vegetarian and www.gourmari.com is my creative and culinary outlet.

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About the professional me

I hold a Master’s degree in Political Science, Economic Geography and Philosophy from Goethe University Frankfurt and studied at Clark University in Worcester, MA for two years as an undergraduate. Throughout my professional career I’ve worked in predominantely English-speaking enviroments in several industries and with people from all walks of life and nationalities in companies big and small. My passion is strategic marketing and I love working on creative digital communication projects. For more information on the subject, also check out my media kit.

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How I grew up

I’m half Bolivian (through my mother) and spent a good part of my life living outside of Germany and Europe between the ages of five and twenty. My father worked for development aid associations (among others) and his assignments took us to Bolivia, Nicaragua, Turkey and Zambia as well as the UK, mostly in pre-internet times. After high school, I moved to the US for college.

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Mari, the cook

Both sides of my family have a generation-spanning, deeply engrained tradition of cooking from scratch and eating delicious and nutritious food. As a result I’ve felt comfortable in the ktichen ever since I was a toddler.

Through my multicultural upbringing, I came in touch with dishes and ingredients very foreign to what my parents cooked at home. This extraordinary childhood and youth has influenced my culinary philsophy: appreciation of food and fostering curiosity for new ingredients and preparation methods rather than fear. (Although, I’m still what people would consider kind of a picky eater. Whatever!)

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Where I live now

I moved in Cologne – a city in the west of Germany that is separated in two halves by the Rhine river in 2008 – for work.People in Cologne are very particular about what side of the river is the “better” one, and I’m happy to report that I live on the correct side: the left (in this picture the left side is on the right though).

Cologne has over a million inhabitants, a chocolate museum and is famous for its monumental cathedral (it’s not only huge, but also holds the remains of the three magi in a golden shrine behind the altar; these are stolen goods though and will need to be returned eventually) which is considered a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The region is also famous for its carnival, during which everyone dresses up in costumes and parties out in the bars and in the streets. We also have parades during that time of the year (which we call the fifth season), large and small in all boroughs of the city. The festivities involve men and women in uniforms that throw candy, fruit and flowers at the people watching them from down in the streets. It’s great fun!

In case you are curious about my gluten-free Cologne-tips, check out this site.

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Whom I share my Life with…

I met my husband in 2004. (This is us back then.) We’ve been married since 2009.

We live with Yoshi, our pet greenfinch, since 2010. I found him on the street one late August day when he was merely a tiny chick. We raised with the help of a straw, a huge portion of love and lots of luck.

We love him very much and we couldn’t imagine our life without him! Yoshi sometimes makes an appearance on the blog, usually when anything green or with a seed is involved! This is him today with red currants.

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What I do when I don’t cook or blog

Aside from cooking, writing, photography and music are my biggest passions. I always listen to music, be it on the road or at home, and I love going to concerts, where you will usually find me cheering (and taking pictures) from the first row.

I also play and write music, mainly on the the guitar, the ukulele and the charango. I own banjo that I play really badly and sometimes I also experiment with my sansula (also known as a thumb piano) and a small djembe. All this happens behind closed doors though, so please don’t expect my next album to drop any time soon! 😉

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My Photog-Gear

I came by photography through a photo journalism class back in high school and have been striving to be a better photographer ever since then. I’m Nikonian and own a D40, D90 and a (full-frame) D700, which is my preferred tool for pictures on this blog. My favourite lens is the 50mm f1.4, but I have various other lenses which I use for photography that is non-food related. We also own a Fuji FinePix X100. It’s a great camera for concerts and to carry around in my purse, e.g. for taking pictures at restaurants.

One of my largest, life-long projects is to improve my food syling abilities, something I have been able to develop through this blog. I try to let speak food for itself though, without dabbling too much with it.

I mainly take pictures in natural light and can’t stand artificial light. All pictures featured in this blog (unless otherwise specified) are taken either in my kitchen or on the dining room table.

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I also blog in German

If you’re fluent in German, you may want to stop by my other creative outlet Foodgasm.me where I blog with other culinary passionate folks (who eat both meat and gluten).

My posts there are usually restaurant or product reviews or ideas involving variations of the recipes posted here – so it’s very different from what you’ll find on www.gourmari.com

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Want to get in touch? Here’s how!

Also, blogging can be kind of lonely sometimes. So, if you found a typo, have a question about a recipe, need advice on what your next musical investment should be or just want to say hi, please do! I’d love to hear from you! Contact me by writing to greetings [at] gourmari [dot] com or through the contact form. Of course, you can also touch base through Instagram, Facebook or Twitter!

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By the way, thanks so much to everyone who has already liked, commented, made suggestions and asked questions. All these signs of life really mean a lot to me and are an integral part in keeping this blog going. So thank you, arigato, gracias, merci beaucoup and vielen Dank! You rock!

And also, thanks so much for being interested in the author behind this blog!

Enjoy the recipes and the tips on how to live a successful gluten-free life or how to travel  gluten-free – hope you come back soon!

Love & Light,
Mari

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