Each month, we get to know another Canadian food blogger and post our interview with them here.  This month, we feature Montreal based, Julia Batal of www.alajulia.com.  Julia is a graphic/web designer who designed her own beautiful web site where you’ll find some great recipe!

In this photo, Julia is enjoying a “Lebanese Tabbouleh” (the recipe can be found on her blog).

1. Who taught you how to cook?

I’ve always had a passion for food and since I was a kid, I used to help mom in the kitchen. I also enjoy watching various cooking shows and acquire from them some special techniques. After I got married, the trial and error experimentation started My husband’s reactions to every successful recipe gave me full motivation to learn more.

2. How does cooking influence your everyday life?

Cooking is an art: It helps me express my feelings into food. At the end of the day, what's better than enjoying a hot meal with a glass of wine! Sharing my hobby of cooking with my husband's hobby of photography produces my blog's every weekend post.

3. What is your favourite thing to make for friends and family?

I've been influenced by Japanese cuisine, that's why my favourite recipe to prepare for my friends and family is definitely sushi: It's colourful, fun to prepare and very flexible!

4. What’s the one ingredient you simply couldn’t live without?

"Butter" simply. A basic ingredient of most desserts, butter also gives a special taste treatment to almost any other recipe! Knowing that, I always make sure to use it wisely. Butter is absolutely the ingredient I cannot live without.