Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen for giving me
my first schooling in the world of recipe development, food
writing, video, and television. Sheryl Julian had faith in my
abilities as a freelance journalist when I gave her absolutely
no reason to, and Jolyon Helterman is the one who actually
taught me those skills.
Any writer who tells you that their voice and style are all
their own are lying to you. We’re all influenced by who we
read. My writing is a stew of mannerisms, jokes, and styles
that I’ve mashed together from all over the place. Jeffrey
Steingarten and Michael Ruhlman taught me that gonzo
journalism is alive and well in the food world. Hugh
Fearnley Whittingstall and Anthony Bourdain reminded me
that good food writing, like all good writing, has to be
personal. Jacques Pepin’s mastery of technique and his
ability to express not just how to do something but why you
should care is breathtaking (his “Complete Techniques”
makes for some riveting beach reading. Trust me).
Whenever I’m in a rut where my words just aren’t light or
humorous enough I reread a Douglas Adams or Kurt
Vonnegut, Jr., novel, or perhaps watch a few Monty Python
sketches. Even more than my own efforts, these are the
folks that I really owe my writing and recipe testing style to,
and I hope my words do them proud.
I owe a big debt of gratitude to Russ Parsons (How to
Read a French Fry), Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot (Ideas
in Food), Robert Wolke (What Einstein Told His Cook),
Dave Arnold (Liquid Intelligence) and Nathan Myhrvold
and the entire Modernist Cuisine team for leading the charge
when it comes to good food science education and
nandana
(Nandana)
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