About

Is this a food blog? A photography blog? A travel blog?

It’s all three! We both love good food, are both interested in photography and both love to travel and explore new places so the site helps us to combine these interests.

Are you Vegetarian? Vegan? Flexi? It’s complicated?

Alison is a committed vegetarian but also tries to avoid dairy as much as possible. Eric reserves the right to eat both fish and meat but in reality, doesn’t do either very often. We do not cook meat or fish at home and where possible, try to incorporate non-Dairy alternatives and vegan options into our diet.

We are not however militant in our approach. We both firmly believe that doing a little is better than doing nothing. Our goal is to create quality dishes that are healthy(ish), packed with flavor, well presented and, wherever possible, use the best organic, fresh ingredients.  And cake, we also like cake.

What’s your favorite type of food? What do you most enjoy cooking?

Hopefully you will see that both the blog and Instagram account feature a huge amount of diversity. I don’t think either of us has a strong preference and we like to experiment with all types of food. Alison may have a slight ‘West Coast’ preference and Eric loves to bake but otherwise our passion is really just for good quality food made with quality ingredients. Alison is much better at making weeknight dinners appear effortless and Eric likes to tackle technical and complex projects that can take entire days! If you see something on our Instagram account and think ‘Wow, that looks like too much effort’ – the chances are, Eric made it.

What’s your favorite travel destination? How does your travel influence your cookery?

We are lucky to have lived in Singapore for many years, a diverse foodie destination in its own right, it’s also a great jumping off point for the whole of the APAC region. We also both travel extensively for work and our travel experiences definitely influence what we cook.

The Middle East, Israel, Jordan and Palestine was a recent favorite and was influenced by a minor Ottolenghi obsession. South Africa is also a firm favorite for the sheer quality of the food and of course the incredible wine selection.

How do you decide what to cook?

We both draw inspiration from many places. Recreating dishes we have tried in restaurants or seen on menus, cookbooks, the Instagram accounts we follow. In addition to our day to day cooking, we both have side-gigs to keep us entertained. Eric has spent years trying to master Sourdough and to make the perfect veggie burger (still not there yet…) and Alison likes to experiment with home-made yoghurt.

Do you cook together or do you take turns?

Alison will often display some very irrational passive aggressive behavior if she feel her onions are not being cut small enough and Eric is capable of going full Gordon Ramsey in the event that anything does not go exactly according to plan. For these reasons, we tend to take it in turns to cook!

Do you cook every day?

Hmm… we definitely try to but we are both busy working professionals. If one of us is travelling or we are simply too tired after work, we have been known to fall back on Eric’s favorite British staple…beans on toast! The weekends are usually for the more technically challenging dishes and some weekend shopping and Sunday meal prep helps to lighten the mid-week effort.  

Who cooks? Who takes the photographs?

Eric’s photography is mostly portraits, street photography and landscapes. Almost all of the pictures you see on the blog and our Instagram account are taken by Alison who is much more interested in the technical aspects of the macro food photography. Alison only started her food photography journey a couple of years ago and has mostly taught herself via trial and error and lots of YouTube videos! When Alison is diligently photographing our latest creation, Eric can be found at the table, impatiently complaining that dinner will be cold…again

Are you interested in collaborations or other promotional types of activity?

Of course! You can use the ‘Contact Us’ form to share more details or simply email us at gramstoounces@gmail.com. We would be interested in working with anyone that shares or reflects our values and has a passion for great quality food…or anyone willing to give us chocolate.