Dan Kurdys is a dad that cooks at home for his wife and three daughters. Growing up, meals were a critical part of Dan’s learning and family bonding. He feels the struggle of balancing a full time job and preparing family meals that are convenient, on budget and healthy. He started his side hustle blog Meal Genome in 2018 to discover insights for better meal experiences. The approach is to use skills from career experience in corporate strategy, a MBA and a degree in Economics toward analytics of meal experiences.

Key Career Achievements

• Digital Agriculture strategy including supporting analysis for over $1B in acquisitions.
• Strategic analysis support for over 50 venture capital investments in agriculture
• Technology portfolio management for agriculture solutions in South America
• Post COVID-19 Food System Blueprint for Recovery project lead at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Home Chef Achievements

• Cooked, Set and Served a dinner meal to three girls under 5 while parenting alone
• Mastered the art of Three Successful Meal Recreations from one dish
• Made a Meal only from things I picked/caught/killed
• Longest Meal Streak with family (three meals a day) – 90 days
• Biggest Group service of a full meal at my home – 20 people

Beliefs About Meals

• Meals are an unique experience, a moment, that cannot be exactly recreated.
• Food is one of many factors of a meal and not the most important one
• Meals are a core part of memory
• Emotions are flavors
• Meals are about connecting: with yourself, others, a pet, or nature.
• Food means more and tastes better when you grow it/harvest it/cook it

Life Shaping Meal Experiences

Food is just a part of a meal. Meals capture the broader sensory experience: taste, memory, environment, food, people, the discussion, and the context. A meal experience can set the foundations of your family relationships, be the setting for falling in love and the opening to career opportunities. The best way to learn about me is through the signature meal experiences that continue to shape my life.

Lake Michigan Walleye

I can vividly remember fishing trips with my dad and grandpa when I was six years old. We would wake up early and head down to the Black River Park boat launch in South Haven, MI. Grandpa would motor out slowly, passing the light house on the pier and open it up, cruising west. Slowing down, we would drop the down riggers, let out the planer boards and start letting out lines. Then the first bite hits; pole bending, reel buzzing, and a frantic crew pulling in other lines. We would land walleye after walleye. It is absolutely mesmerizing to pull fish out of the deep blue Lake Michigan water.

Returning back to the marina, I would watch as grandpa and dad cleaned the fish. We would bring them home and grandma would bread them and pan fry them. I would load up my plate with a side of home fries and sit down at their table packed with my cousins. A large window in the backdrop was filled with the rolling lawn out to a cliff overlooking the lake. Taking a bite and breaking through that crisp fry to a buttery textured filet with a slight sweet flavor, carries wonderful memories of time with my grandparents and my childhood in Michigan.

KFC Late 80s

A KFC meal, before I knew enough to feel guilty for eating it, was literally comfort in a bucket. My parents both worked until I was seven. They made time for home cooked meals but occasionally, working late meant one parent grabbed the kids from daycare and the other grabbed a bucket of KFC for a rendezvous fast food dinner at home.

With dinner made, we all indulged in the Colonel’s perfected blend of 11 herbs and spice. A side of mashed potatoes, gravy and a biscuit followed by a food coma while curled up on the living room couch watching TV.

Crazy how current understanding of nutrition ruined this experience for me. I don’t remember feeling regret in my post bucket coma when I was young. Now, outside of a weak moment while on a long road trip, I rarely indulge. Still, I can recall how awesome it was when I was young. No doubt a part of the happy memory was relaxing with my parents versus the usual hustle of post dinner clean up.

Crawfish Boils

Parking in a mall lot and hopping out of the truck to a group of fellow Louisiana residents gathered around several turkey fryer setups. The smell of seafood and spices permeating the air. A tail gate chef pulls off one of the lids for a stir and I catch a glimpse of corn, potatoes and bright red crawfish. Newspapers are spread across a pop up table and people gather around. This wonderful messy affair is a crawfish boil and it is perfectly suited for outdoor tailgate consumption.

We would eat are fill of crawfish, play games in the parking lot and talk with friends until dusk when the parade started. A ladder fitted with a bench and safety restraint held my sisters. My job was to collect the missed beads at the bottom the ladder. Large floats passed by filled with people in costumes. People crammed on the side of the street cheering for beads. Beads explode like fireworks in all directions off the floats. Taking in a crawfish boil and a Mardi Gras parade is truly a life shaping meal experience.

Chef at Home – Crab Topped Salmon

When I was ten, my parents won a raffle for a chef at home experience. Somehow, they brokered an opportunity for me to assist the chef. I had stumbled into creating a tasty cocktail sauce recipe and so my parents thought I was ready to pursue culinary mastery. My goal was to not mess things up too bad.

We made crab topped salmon, twice baked potatoes and bread pudding. The chef was unbelievably accommodating, letting me take on specific tasks and teaching throughout the preparation. We jointly presented each dish to my parents and their guests in the dining room and when it was all served, we sat down in the kitchen to eat our portions. It was the first time I experienced the power of cooking for others. I still remember each bite had the distinct flavor of satisfaction from helping prepare it and bringing enjoyment to others through a meal.

Carne Asada

Chula Vista, California in 1999, I left school with my friend Mike to walk over to the Southwestern College pool for water polo practice. We had two hours to burn and I was starving. Mike asked, “ever had carne asada?” I had not. Mike led the way to a hole in the wall restaurant in a shopping center close to campus. We both ordered carne asada burritos with pico and guac.

Thinly sliced beef with a slight char, seasoned with just enough salt. Guacamole providing flavors of fat, lime and lemon. Freshly warmed tortilla holding it all together. I devoured that burrito.

Carne asada is simply “grilled meat” but it quite hard to define from a culinary perspective because there are so many variations. The cut of meat can be different. Some use dry rubs and others marinade. Of all the variations, I wish I could recreate the magic blend of that first carne asada burrito.

Belize Shore Lunch

I took a bite of lobster and fire roasted conch, eating al fresco, from a sand pit dug on a beach somewhere between Ambergris Caye, Belize and Mexico. Our family had just finished a half day snorkeling. We had harvested several conchs and spiny lobsters from reef. I sat on a large piece of drift wood. Toes in the sand, tickled by the breeze blowing across my slightly sunburned skin. Flavors of roasted fruits and peppers burst from the lobster. I stared out to the white of the waves breaking on the edge of the patch work of blue, green and turquoise that defined the reef. Paper plates, no forks or napkins. We ate the chunks of lobster and conch with our hands. It was Belize in a meal.

South African Kudu

In 2010, I visited Cape Town, South Africa. Still fresh off the world cup, vuvuzelas could be found everywhere. We went out to a dinner on the waterfront. Our table offered a view of the marina and Table Top mountain. We sipped our cocktails as the sunset.

For dinner we ordered a variety of dishes to share, including kudu. This protein is an antelope species of Africa with the tenderness of steak yet a delicate rich flavor. No wonder why Andrew Zimmern has it has one of the top tasting foods he ever ate. We coupled it with prawns as a South African surf and turf.

Following dinner, we hit a karaoke club where I embarrassed myself over a butchered rendition of “Don’t Stop Believing.” Life shaping meal experiences are about memory, embarrassment sears in memories. However, it earned me some conversation with other visitors and completed a memorable meal of a very memorable trip.

Madrid Tapas

My wife and I took our first international trip together to Spain. Her parents dropped us off with our hiking packs and we boarded our flight for the transatlantic crossing. When we arrived in Madrid, a friend picked us up and took us to her apartment near Palacio Real de Madrid.

We rose early for our flight but felt no weariness from jet lag. After a quick shower, we went out for tapas. We started with cañas and wafer thin slices of Jamon Iberico. There is nothing quite like the combination of acorn fat and salt with beer. A few bars later and several cañas, we found ourselves sipping classic Rioja paired with Manchego talking ourselves into hitting a dance club for our next stop. I remember stumbling back to our friends place at 4AM and a very slow going next day.

Positano Sangrias

Some life shaping meal experiences are as simple as a great place and a new beverage. My wife, my sister and I planned to take the train from Naples to Sorrento and then a bus from Sorrento to Positano. Should have been easy, except the bus was standing room only on a particularly hot day. The ride from Sorrento along the Amalfi coast to Positano is breathtaking but not when you are standing with your luggage between your legs trying not to fall over on all the curves.

Eventually, we made it to our hotel and threw on our swim suits. Running down the long stair case to the rocky beach, we washed away the stress of travel in the crystal clear Tyrrhenian Sea. Cool and dry, we wandered into a restaurant with a wood patio painted bright blue that overlooked the beach.

We noticed Positano Sangria on the drink list and ordered a pitcher for the table. White wine, fizzy lemon water, peaches and ice- literally the perfect hot weather relaxing drink. Coupled with a few sandwiches, as we drifted into conversation I felt like I was melting into my chair.

Buenos Aires Wine Tasting

In 2014, on the last day of a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, I stumbled onto a wine tasting shop with my wife and parents. All foodies, we established a practice of food wandering on our travels.  Ahead of meals, we would set out to a new section of town, and just walk, looking for hidden culinary treasures.  A risky venture landing us in several tourist traps but addicting for those random Pavlovian gems.

I cannot remember the name or location of the wine tasting shop. I remember a small plaza with orange umbrellas against a blue sky and a semi circle table with six high chairs visible through the large window at the shop entrance.  When we walked in, dark wood shelving holding hundreds of bottles of wine straddled narrow walkways. The shop was quiet and we struggled to find any staff. 

“Hola” we hollered in poor midwestern Spanish. “Hola” we heard back from a lady in a back storage room. We could hear her shuffling around just before she emerged from behind a wall, her face covered by a large box she was carrying.  As she dropped the box on the counter next to the cash registered, we muddled through Spanish and English to convey we were interested in a wine tasting. What I believe to be the owner, appeared from behind the wall, no doubt intrigued by our bizarre exchange.  He lit up at the sight of us and dynamically led us to the semi circle table in the window.  Four hours later, we were buzzed from sampling a dozen different wines, paired with local cured meats and cheeses.

The owner introduced the last wine for the tasting. A Malbec from the Salta region, Argentina’s northern most wine region. He explained that the high altitudes and unique climate produce lower grape yields and thicker skins for dense and full bodied wines that are extremely fragrant.  We tasted, ate some more and talked. “Now,” the owner exclaimed “it is time to pick your favorite wine, but before you do, I want to tell you something.”

“Taste is in the moment. The food you ate, what you did before you came here, how you feel, the people here with you; these all contribute to the taste.  Choose your favorite wine based on the taste in this moment.”

Unknown, Owner Wine Tasting Shop Buenos Aires, Argentina

Could taste change based on the company, the sounds, the context? I thought it was all about the food: the ingredients, the preparation, the presentation. #Foodporn right!?  It was a paradigm shift for me, a moment of culinary wonder that persists and continues to offer new insights.  The memory of his words flavored this life shaping meal experience more than the food or wine.

Minnesota Apple Tasting

I knew apples. I knew a mcintosh red was not a granny smith. My mom burned it in my memory in one special fall day in Michigan. We visited an apple orchard near our home, a brown wooden barn served as the store. As you entered, the sweet smell of crushed apples, candy and donuts hits. Then your eye takes in the bunches of bright red, amber yellow and granny smith green apples. We selected two of every type of apple. At home, we cut up the apples and tasted each, talking about the difference in texture, color and flavor. My sisters and I picked our favorites. This life shaping meal experience formed my understanding of the importance of ingredient selection and the power of science to create new awesome ingredients.

When I moved to Minnesota with my own family, I looked forward to visiting apple orchards with classics and experimental apple varieties for tasting. On a warm late September day, I met my wife and oldest daughter at an apple orchard for lunch. We sat on a park bench in the sunshine and sampled a dozen different apples. It was so simple: great weather, family, a variety of apples and the stacking of wonderful memories.

Custer Goat Burger

We set out on a Mt. Rushmore road trip with a three year old and a one year old. Our one year old still struggled with bed time and we had no idea how the extended car travel would play. In the end, it went down as one of my favorite trips ever.

After touring Mt. Rushmore, we had plenty of day left before we needed to get on the road back to Rapid City, SD. We decided to venture to Custer, SD to check out Black Elk Peak and Crazy Horse Memorial along the way. Pulling into Custer, we thought we would just scout for a place to grab lunch. Black Hills Burger and Bun Co. caught our attention. We parked and walked in, no wait.

I found a special item goat burger on the menu and decided to give it a go. Seasoned with a shawarma spice mix, the goat was tender and mild. I mentioned how amazing the burger was to the waiter. He thanked me and said we were lucky today was a low crowd day. I was skeptical thinking Custer, SD probably had pretty low crowds volumes even at peak. I was surprised to hear lines were usually around the block at more than an hour wait!

Sometimes you just get lucky. One of my favorite activities is to try new restaurants, especially if I can crawl and try more than one in a meal. Most of the time the experience is mediocre but every once in awhile you stumble onto a life shaping meal experience.