A RETURN TO REAL FOOD
When a Chef-Mother tells it how it is
The kitchen has been my home since before I had words. Fire hissing under pans, the perfume of sautéed garlic, warm bread breaking in the hands of the people I love. First as a chef, then as a mother, and now as co-founder of Blue Gourmet, I’ve witnessed the kind of magic only real food can create, connection, memory, health, laughter lingering around the table.Food is story Food is ancestryFood is medicine - when it’s real.But I’ve also seen other sides -the part most people never hear about. A world where food is no longer grown, nurtured, or respected, but engineered. Here is the truth plain and simple
Much of the modern food industry is no longer focused on nourishment. It is focused on design.Additives, Dyes, Flavor enhancers.Ingredients created to perform — to last longer, look brighter, taste louder — not to nourish the body but to meet industrial demands.Preservatives promise “freshness,” yet often leave the body inflamed, confused and still hungry for real nutrients. Much of this hides in food our children reach for first— cereals, snacks, drink pouches, brightly colored treats engineered to feel joyful while masking long ingredient lists born in laboratories, not kitchens.What most people don’t realize is how many of these additives enter our food system.Many are approved through a regulatory pathway known as GRAS - Generally Recognized As Safe - a system that allows companies to self-affirm safety without independent, long term evaluation in every case. Over the past two decades, thousands of substances have entered the food supply this way, even as growing research raises concerns about certain additives and their potential links to metabolic disruption, allergies, behavioral changes and long-term health risks.Not because no one cares — but because the system was built to prioritize speed, scale and profit.Recently the FDA announced a voluntary phase-out of synthetic dyes by 2026. Voluntary- meaning change depends on willingness, not requirement. History tells us that without pressure, many companies will choose what is cheapest, most shelf-stable and most profitable.Meanwhile, it took decades to ban just one dye — Red No.3 — after animal studies linked it to cancer.As a chef, this is unacceptable.As a mother it is deeply unsettling.As a woman who carries the ancestral memory in her hands, it lights a quiet, holy fire within me.I don’t want children growing up thinking food comes from supermarket shelfs. I want them to know the scent of fresh crushed rosemary between fingers. The rhythm of dough being kneaded like a heartbeat. The beauty of the grain that once swayed golden under the sun.So what is really happening?
Most large food systems prioritize:Profit marginsUniformityMass productionShelf life
What they don’t prioritize:
Ancestral wisdomFlavor born from soil and time, not chemistryDeep nourishment
Because when we honor time, respect ingredients and choose soil over factories, flavor over fillers, truth over convenience — food becomes sacred again.And this - this is why Blue Gourmet exists. Not simply as a brand. but as a quiet revolution.A return. A remembering.To dough that it is allowed to rest and mature.To ingredients our grandmothers trusted.To meals that heal the gut and the heart.To real food- food that gives life instead of draining it.This is the food I cook.This is the food I feed my children.This is the food I want you to taste – not only with your mouth, but with your memory.In this space, I will share the why behind our ingredients, the science behind fermentation and time, and the ancestral practices that modern food forgot - so you can make informed, nourishing choices for your table.
If you ever felt this longing too, you are in the right place. From my kitchen to yours —with love, truth, and a little rebellion. Chef Carolina
References:
FDA - Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)