Why?

Cooking has been a big passion of mine for a while now. I try to keep experimenting with new things, but sometimes you can find yourself cooking too many old favourites or cooking similar types of food, cooked and prepared in familiar ways. To help me learn and understand more I have set myself a challenge: My girlfriend is going to give me a new ingredient to experiment with every week. I will make 2-3 dishes using this ingredient, and try to find and create dishes that illustrate this ingredient's flavour and texture, as well as paying homage to its culinary history. I will include some of my research as well as the dishes I cook and why I have chosen them. Lets begin!