Secrets of the Best Chefs

flavor that improves whatever you’re cooking. If you go to
France, you can buy a big bag for just two euros. To buy here,
see Resources.
THE LEAVES at the heart of a bunch of celery are an
underappreciated ingredient; they will perfume whatever you’re
cooking with a subtle celery flavor. Use in soups, stocks,
poaching liquids, or anywhere else where you want an extra
vegetal note.
WHEN EATING mussels (see recipe), use a discarded half-shell
to scoop out the meat of your next mussel. Or, perhaps even
better, use a whole discarded shell like tongs to pull out the
mussel meat from the next mussel and deliver it to your mouth.
(That’s the way Erickson eats hers.)