You’ve found my cooking blog/vlog, Bitchin’ in the Kitchen?
Well done, you!
Let me introduce myself: I’m Bitter Bec.
My love of cooking began to develop only after I left home at age eighteen. My mother, you see, was a fucking control freak in the kitchen, so I didn’t really learn to cook until I was out of her clutches. When I returned home, I started elbowing my way into her domain (but not without some Italian-style yelling and flailing of arms) and as the years progressed I think she started to actually enjoy not having to think about the evening meal. She would never admit this, of course, and she continued to hover behind me while I prepared meals, tut-tutting, sighing and - quite literally - breathing down my neck.
Mum passed away at the end of 2017, but sometimes when I’m cooking I can still feel her presence in the form of her boob pressing into my back as she leans over my shoulder to ask, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it like that? Oh, you’re doing it that way, are you?” or equivalently condescending and disapproving questions and statements. She never complained about the end product, though. Or sometimes I’d be halfway through preparing a meal only to “lose” the knife I had used only seconds earlier. This meant my mother had washed it and put it on the drainer. Nothing was beyond her controlling nature… expect maybe my wilfulness.
Nonetheless, my passion for food and cooking and feeding people prevailed - not despite mum’s controlling nature, but rather because of it. I inherited it from her, after all, and it’s something I will always treasure. Three-course meal for twenty people? Pfft! With one hand behind my back! And now it’s me who hovers around the kitchen when others are cooking, offering unnecessary suggestions.
Unlike my sister, I’m not a sentimental cook. She likes to follow traditional family recipes passed down through the generations and replicate the meals our nonna and mum used to serve to family and friends, whereas I like to use these recipes more as a launching pad to create my versions. So it’s probably a good idea that we didn’t buy that teashop together and turn it into an Italian cafe/deli. For a perfect illustration of our sisterly disparity, see a snippet of a conversation below. I’ll let you figure out who’s who…
My sister and I: a conversation.
Bitchin’ in the Kitchen is where I’ll eventually post cooking videos (which will also eventually be hosted on my YouTube channel) as well as blog about anything food or drink related, including sharing recipes. I’m not a professional chef by any stretch of the imagination, however, I do wholeheartedly embrace swearing, so be warned.
“My favourite part of dining at Bitter Bec’s is hearing “motherfuckingcunts” coming from the kitchen” - Meg.
While my background may be Italian, I don’t discriminate when it comes to shovelling food in my mouth, except when it comes to quality. Thai, Indian, German, Japanese, pub meals, slow-cooking, barbecue, sous vide, salads, low carb, low calorie, vegetarian and even occasionally (and accidentally) vegan, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, sides, and desserts - they, plus many more, will feature here.
“I don’t know how the fuck she does it but Bec manages to give depth of flavour to even a cheeseburger“ - Caz.
But you know what I won’t do? I won’t fucking make you read some long-winded fucking story before posting the fucking recipe. Fuck, that shits me. You can rest assured that the ingredients and methods will be listed at the top of the blog post for your convenience. If I feel the need to share some bullshit unsolicited anecdote to accompany the recipe - like the fucking self-indulgent egomaniac I am - I’ll do it at the end.
