Food is a universal language, as Pepy Nasution of The Art and Science of Food proves on her blog. Originally hailing from Indonesia her posts routinely make our mouths water. We talked to Pepy about why the art and science of food fascinates her so much. The food you feature on your blog is primarily Indonesian. Living in Canada, do you find it hard to adapt traditional recipes to local available products, or can you stay fairly authentic with what is available to you? No, I don’t find it’s hard. I’m trying my best to be authentic as I’m trying to get the exact ingredients. Your blog is called "The Art and Science of Food." Do you feel that cooking is more art or science? Cooking is a combination between both. I can’t see it as one or the other. How did you learn to cook? I learned to cook when I moved out of my parents’ house. I went to university that was a bit far from home - about the distance of Winnipeg to Calgary. I knew it was easy and cheap to get food ready to eat at warungs/hawkers (street food sellers), but I realized the food wasn’t healthy enough, (too much MSG) so I tried my best to cook. My mom had a catering business beside her full time job at that time. So, I used to help her but never tried to learn. Then, when I moved to Canada, I recognized that my tastes hadn’t changed. I still craved Indonesian food sometimes. Besides Indonesian, what is your favourite style or ethnicity of cooking? This is a tough question for a foodie like me. I like Chinese (the real Chinese), Vietnamese, Thai, and Caribbean because they are similar to Indonesian taste. I like Japanese because of the fish and seafood used. I like Korean because of the spiciness from chili. I like Mediterranean food as well. What ingredient could you not live without? Any kind of chili pepper. Every month, we feature a Canadian food blogger in our blogger spotlight series. If you have a favourite Canadian blogger that you’d like to see interviewed, leave us a comment and let us know!