1. As time passes by, many people lose the passion and the obsession they had about something. How do you continue to be passionate and maintain your love of food?

A real, honest passion comes from the heart and that cannot be lost. Otherwise it's just a fad. For me it's not just the passion for food, it's the whole experience. Right from the beginning when I get an idea in my head, to the shopping for the appropriate ingredients, then playing with the flavors and of course the photography of the final dish - seeing it all come together is what I love the most. I love working in each phase and have so much fun doing it. I have been food blogging for four years now and it does not seem like that passion or obsession is going away anytime soon.

2. Why is it important for you to cook with organic ingredients?

Working with organic products means that I am helping reduce my carbon footprint, and I am getting products that I believe are handled with care and sensibly. And the taste says it all. If you've ever tasted an organic potato or apple you will know what I mean - you'll never want to go back to the other non-organic potatoes or apples. I seriously began thinking about organic products when my son (who is 7 years old now) was born. I wanted to provide him with the best food, free from pesticides and other harmful contents and so I turned to organic produce.

3. How do you determine whether the fresh produce you receive from farmers and the CSA are organic or not?

For one, living in Germany the guidelines for organic products are very tight so I know that when something is labeled organic it is organic.  For another, I have visited some of the local/regional farmers that supply me with my weekly CSA box and seen how they work. They pay great attention and take pride in offering high quality products.

4. Please name your top 5 favorite cookbooks.
Yes straight away!

Ottolenghi - The Cookbook
Alice Medrich - Pure Desserts
Raghavan Iyer - 660 Curries
Madhur Jaffrey - World Vegetarian
Tassajara - Dinners & Desserts

5. Please describe one of your experimented recipes. How did you come up with it?

That is a tough one. I have a quite a few. But I think one of my favorites from last year was the Baked Vanilla Infused Peach Risotto (http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2009/06/baked-vanilla-infused-peach-risotto.html).

It was a take on the classic rice pudding but instead of just serving it traditionally, I infused it with vanilla beans and added chopped peach, finally baking it in the oven. Very satisfying. It just struck me like the right thing to do. My son loves rice pudding and I was getting tired of serving it in the same fashion. So I thought "I've heard of baked risotto I am sure this will work just as well too!" And it did!

6. What specific tips and guidelines can you give our readers on ethnic Indian cooking?

My series, candidly named "Bollywood Cooking", introduces people to Indian cuisine very comprehensively. We started with going through all of the spices used in the Indian kitchen (http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2007/01/bollywood-cooking-india-home-of-spices.html) and we went through several popular and famous Indian signatures dishes.

Currently I am covering homey meals cooked everyday in Indian homes. Indian home food depends less on the richness of ghee and cream but more on using simple spices to create a complex blend of flavors. And garam masala, while most certainly is a very Indian spice mixture, does not belong in every Indian dish. Down to earth Indian food is not time consuming nor is it difficult to prepare, two things I often hear from people when we discuss Indian food. Home cooked Indian food uses fresh ingredients and there is always prep time needed for that. Indian cooking should not intimidate anyone and one should experiment with it just like they would with anything else in the kitchen.

7. What do you consider as essential for success in food photography?

Be true to your style and originality. Inspiration comes from many sources but one should be creative enough to interpret it in their own style. There are many aspects one needs to consider when taking pictures of food. Is the food hot or cold? How do you want to portray the subject? In which lighting? In which style? Using which color combination? Which angle will say the most about your dish? It's good to take some time and think about the entire mood and styling and how you want to present the subject. Play around with different settings and lighting to get that final shot that says it all.