This week's Foodista Five interview is with Keren Brown, the founder of Seattle's Foodportunity events and author of "Food Lovers' Guide to Seattle: Best Local Specialties, Market, Recipes, Restaurants & Events." Keren also blogs at Frantic Foodie and will speak at the 2012 International Food Blogger Conference about building community online and offline. Read on for more about Keren's food inspirations.
1. How did you get involved in cooking? What's your food background?
I moved to Seattle with my husband and decided to learn how to cook. I figured that if I don't learn then we will end up eating junk food or processed food. I decided that this would be my project I took every cooking class that I could find, I volunteered at food events and took a couple of cooking classes at the Art Institute of Seattle. I did it so that I could eventually start a family and know how to cook for them. Now I have three kids and a career in food.
2. What inspires you to create?
A walk through the Pike Place Market inspires me to want to cook. A look at all the produce, discovering new spices and flipping through food magazines.
3. What are some of the sites that food bloggers simply must have a presence on?
Twitter and Facebook. These are such great platforms. Blogging without either one of them is like cooking without salt. They complete the blogging experience. I can't understand why somebody would miss the opportunity to use a free social media tool. Twitter can be overwhelming at first but I always tell people to first watch and then do it. I think you need to start an account and observe tweets for at least a week or even two. Then you can start tweeting and exploring.
4. How do you leverage social media tools at Foodportunity and your other events?
We have a big screen at Foodportunity and people tweet throughout the event. It is a great way to see what people are tasting, create motivation and connect with people that you would like to meet. I also use social media to run contests. It is a fun way to get people excited about the event and I am always happy to give out prizes. I enter contests all the time too. I am kind of obsessed with contests.
What is your fondest food memory?
I remember when I tried a passionfruit for the first time. For so many years I had been drinking passionfruit juice and thinking to myself that this taste is too sweet, and the flavor tastes kind of fake. It can't be that sweet. Then on a trip to Israel, I had my first passionfruit. I couldn't comprehend that this fruit could give this naturally sweet and tangy flavor. It tasted just like that juice. Just this last year my 3-year-old boy had passionfruit for the first time and he become obsessed. He will eat three at a time.
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