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Meet & Eat: Lori, Dessert Comes First

Posted by Robyn Lee, July 27, 2007 at 11:30 AM

Through her blog Dessert Comes First, Lori Baltazar not only smothers you with her passionate photo-laden odes to all things sugary and decadent, but in my opinion provides some of the best content for the Filipino Tourist Board...unbeknownst to them. If you've never thought about visiting Manila before, you may change your mind after discovering the city's best chocolate cakes, mango torte, gelato, oatmeal cookies, and—trust me—roughly a million other things that you'd want to eat. Unfortunately, you have to be in Manila to take advantage of Lori's recommendations. Get to know Lori in this week's Meet & Eat and maybe you'll be inspired to get a plane ticket to Manila. One-way.

Name: Lori Baltazar
Location: Manila, Philippines
Occupation: food writer
URL: Dessert Comes First

Favorite comfort food? I'm the girl who named her website after what she loves the most, so DESSERT, definitely—whatever I'm in the mood for at the moment.

Guilty pleasures? I feel guilty about almost everything I eat because I eat so much, and pretty unhealthy food at that. Still, the guiltiest of my guilty pleasures would include soft hot bread slathered with butter, Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream, just baked scones, lightly pan-fried foie gras, hot chocolate, and eating half a batch of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies in one go.

What food won't you eat? There's not a lot I won't eat since I've never been a picky eater in my entire life. Having said that, there's a local vegetable here in the Philippines called ampalaya (I think it's called bittermelon in other countries) that I refuse to have on my table. Ampalaya is the most bitter, caustic thing anyone could ever eat, and I couldn't care less that it's full of antioxidants and other vitamins. If it tastes that bad, it can't be that good for me.

What's an unexplored food you'd like to try? I think that eating animal organs is highly overrated (think: bulls' testicles, monkey brains, etc.)—seriously, if it's not a part of your culture, why would you waste your time on that stuff? I'm quite the adventurous eater though and some foods I'd like to try one day are lardo, which is Italian cured pork fat, the best bacon in the world I've heard; a white truffle; and anything from Sugar Sweet Sunshine (my favorite online pal, Robyn, has posted enough photos of that bakery to make me want to get to New York ASAP).

Favorite food person? I like Ruth Reichl for her books on her foodie life, Anthony Bourdain for his sass and wit, and Jeffrey Steingarten for being the icon of obsessed foodie.

When did you first realize you were a serious eater? In college, when I was out on a date with this guy. After watching me eat, he says, "You eat like a man." I will never forget the look of horror on his face. I can also put away more dessert than anyone else I know.

What do your family and friends think of your food obsessions? They're used to me pulling out the camera when we're out at restaurants, although they can never get over how fast I eat, how many cookbooks I have (400), and why I'd prefer to shop for cookware and food instead of clothes.

Favorite food sites or blogs? The Girl Who Ate Everything, Baking Bites, and Epicurious for recipes.

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Tags: Dessert Comes First, interviews, Meet and Eat