Please allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Malia Duro and I am the proud creator of Umami Maumi. Throughout my career, I've helped technology businesses create exceptional experiences through events, digital marketing, and social media. But my heart and stomach truly belong to gastronomy. Food is quite literally my love language and unlike most, I grew up reading cookbooks instead of novels. As the daughter of a chef, I've spent my entire life in a kitchen. Whether it's using the force (heyoo, where my Star Wars fans at?) or my cooking intuition, the kitchen is where I feel most at home. I have a beautiful family that consists of an exceptionally loving and supportive husband who is also a badass in the kitchen, the sweetest and most emotionally intelligent Border Collie / Husky mix, the craziest but most lovable Border Collie / German Shepard mix, and when it’s our time, I’ll be an exciting mother of some of the coolest human babies. I’m the daughter of the greatest parents to ever exist and I’m a sister to another talented chef. For as long as I can remember, we have been known as the food family. As an Asian-American hapa (half Asian, half white), more specifically, a Filipino-American, food has always been at the center of my household. Growing up biracial, I was introduced to a diverse range of cuisines at an early age, and into my adulthood I have continued to learn about different cultures, their favorite dishes, and what the love of food means to all across the world. My moonshot goal is to become a Food Anthropologist. Traveling the world to authentically learn about other cultures and their relationships with food, introducing new perspectives, and teaching others about the history of food and its influences… This is my ultimate dream. I love the science behind cooking, the culture and history, and at the end of the day, I love the feeling of knowing my food has made the people I love happy. And that's why I'm here. I want to help you learn how to feel comfortable and confident in the kitchen so that you can find the same passion for making the people you love happy with the delicious food you'll make.

The launch of this blog has been long overdue. For years I teased my friends on Instagram with cooking video after cooking video without any recipes to share. Because 1. I cook with intuition and don’t follow a recipe and 2. I was intimidated and felt too insecure to put out a blog in my name. That was until, my husband gifted me with the beautiful brand of Umami Maumi and this incredibly thoughtful website. Throughout my many failed attempts at starting this process, he invested his time and soul into giving me the tools and the confidence to live out my dream as a food blogger. For those who know me, you may agree that this food blog is an accurate depiction of who I am, how hard I’ve worked throughout my career, and my undeniable passion for all things food. I’m genuinely taken back seeing this come to life, knowing my husband saw me, understood my dreams, and built a path for me to succeed.