In Viking culture, people were named using a patronymic naming system, which involved adding a suffix to a father's first name to indicate the child's gender. For example, the suffix "-son" was used for boys and "-dóttir" for girls. For example, Leif Ericsson was the son of Eric, and Sigrid Johnirsdaughter was the daughter of Johnir. I’ve always thought this was the coolest thing, especially since my father worked for a Swedish company for a number of years. You’ve probably guessed it by now, but my father’s name is Shaun, thus Shaun-son was born.

I started making films in high school and eventually went to a film school called Emerson in Boston. During my east coast tenure I balanced making movies and a part-time job at a restaurant called Clover. After I graduated, it was hard to find work in Hollywood so I took a job as dishwasher at a Neapolitan pizza restaurant called Settebello. I eventually became a host, server, bartender, and made my way up to assistant general manager. I worked at Settebello for many years before transitioning into the Aerospace industry as a program admin, then eventually program manager. Feeling burnout, the creative in me decided to start Shaunson Explains. At the time I was, and still am, extremely curious about ingredients, techniques, and the history of food. Simple questions like “which onion should I use” captivated not only me, but a community of home cooks, chefs, and food enthusiast. Here we are a few years later, a little bit wiser, and little bit older, but still hungry. Now you know and thanks for stopping by.

~Stefan “Shaunson” Ng