Turning it on in the kitchen

I never knew I was fashionable. Not until I got an e-mail telling me I was.

It said, "Are you aware of the term 'zhunan'? You have become one of the most fashionable men in China. Your wife must be very pleased."

Well, Ellen's always very pleased, but I was none the wiser, so I asked for an explanation.

"Oh, it refers to men who love cooking, because 'zhu' is a universal word in Cantonese for cooking and 'nan' means man. Most of these zhunan are born in the 1980s, who are passionate about cooking and uploading pictures, recipes, discoveries of good restaurants and having their blogs or some cooking BBS. There's a new slogan among young girls: If one has to marry, then one must marry a zhunan!"

When I told Ellen that I'd been called a zhunan, she was tickled pink.

I've always been interested in food, ever since I was young. There was always something to discover, news things to eat, and new places to eat them at.

Growing up in 70s Australia, food was just beginning to change from the old English style of "meat and three veg". Lots of different people were coming into Australia, bringing with them their own cooking styles, and new ingredients.

Chinese-style cooking was one of the first big experiments for my family. My dad bought a huge wok, and we picked through the shiny new cookbooks, looking for things to try. Looking back now, the recipes themselves were terribly Westernized, but it was a start. I was hooked on learning about food.

As I got older, the 80s and fusion cuisine took over. Suddenly it was easy to get ingredients that had previously been impossible. Hundreds of glossy cookbooks began to appear, and I started to make trips into Chinatown, by Adelaide Central Market, to buy things to make my cooking more exciting, more authentic.

The more I learned, the more I wanted to travel to these exotic places that I only knew from the recipes. My culinary desires were only further heightened by my opportunities to interview celebrity chefs about their new books, or just by talking to visitors at events such as "Tasting Australia".

Finally, my big chance came, and I landed a teaching job in China. I thought that I would be able to just wander slowly around, and eat all the things I'd only read about.

Unfortunately, to do that, you need to be able to read and speak Chinese - something that I can't do. So I was back to cooking for myself, but now I had access to the freshest, most authentic ingredients I could have imagined.

As time passed, I began to pick up new techniques and preparation ideas, just by watching my neighbors working on their balcony kitchens. I scrimped and saved, and bought some new knives and tools to make my life easier. After I met Ellen, I bought an oven, so I could make the fresh bread and cakes that she so enjoys.

My Chinese neighbor, Miranda, is especially envious of my skills. She thinks that Ellen's incredibly lucky to have me as a fiance, as her New Zealand born husband doesn't know one end of a wooden spoon from another.

I don't know if I really fit the description of a zhunan, as I don't maintain a blog to showcase my exploits - and I hope Ellen's not just marrying me for my cooking skills alone.

But it's true that I am incredibly passionate about my cooking.