Why can’t I cook like him?

These are the facts you should know: 

Scotty D and I: With completely different cooking styles Scotty D and I share a love of chili, herbs and good food with big bold flavours. We both love to cook for each other but with very busy work lives only get the chance to cook properly on the weekends.

My background: My mother could rustle up an inspired meal to feed an army of visitors (who my dad would spontaneously invite over) without going shopping or ever using recipes.

My improvisatory skills: The number of things I can cook without a recipe (all of them from my Italian heritage) can be counted on one hand.

My cooking skills: I have been cooking for years and with a recipe I can cook just about anything perfectly, no matter how complicated. I have hundreds of cookbooks and buy cooking magazines like they are going out of fashion – this is because I cannot cook properly without them.

My boyfriend’s skills: He is extremely creative and never cooks to a step by step recipe. In true Scotty D form he will either make a dish up on the spot with what is in front of him, or he will decide what he wants to cook, read a few recipes, get the gist of what needs to happen, and then makes it happen sans recipe.

My problem with the above: I’m jealous. In my attempts to become more creative, I will document the dishes we create on our culinary journey together in the hope that one day I will lose the shackles that bind me to recipe cooking.