markbittman

I try to do MUCH of my scouting in advance – I 'meet' people in my destinations by e-mail, through friends or professional contacts, and I try not to go anyplace that isn't either recommended by two or three people or at least by someone I've come to trust. As you probably know 'the best place in town' is usually a lousy choice. And, increasingly, all cities serve a brand of international food that is completely uninteresting. So you need to either take a lot of chances or find someone who really knows good local food – and understands that's what you're looking for (not always easy).

I thought I'd done a rhubarb sauce for fish in one of the Minimalist books, but I can't find it. So maybe I need to do it. Jean-Georges' rhubarb soup (in Cooking at home with a 4*chef) is pretty terrific.

There are a few new recipes, but mostly these are books geared to people who find the sheer bulk of HTCE intimidating, and believe me there are plenty of them. Whenever I go on the road, there are people who say 'I don't want to know how to cook everything; I want to know how to cook something." These books are for those people – not, I think I can safely say, for e-gulleters…

I'm trying. And trying to learn. The answer is 'yes,' I'm sure it's possible. But I need to have a better feel for the cuisine, which is coming – but slowly. I don't want to kill authenticity, but I sometimes wonder what it means exactly. I'm quite careful about preserving, or trying to preserve, what I perceive to be the spirit of a recipe. But there are times I may get it wrong.

Good question. None of them is clueless. Some are looking for help, some for new ideas, some for (believe it or not) entertainment and proximity to a celebrity – I find this difficult to take in, but it's clearly true…

"Too expensive" is a personal decision. But I would say that foie gras takes a bit of practice to handle and cook, and for most people it's "too expensive" to fool around with. Truffles, on the other hand, are a no – brainer; you can hardly go wrong with them.

I've always loved Asian food, and I've long done Asian recipes. But the number of Asian recipes I feel comfortable doing has increased with my travels to Asia (in the last couple of years, for example, I've been to China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and India). I'm doing more Mexican recipes as I travel to Mexico more (twice in the last year). I do think many Asian (at least Chinese, Korean, and SE Asian) recipes are great for home cooks (less so Indian and Japanese). HOWEVER, there are many readers who consider these recipes 'too exotic' and I would like to avoid alienating them. Much as I hate to say it, there are plenty of people who are not ready for nam pla!

We evaluated every recipe after the book was done, and removed recipes that I considered to be too esoteric – foie gras, game, truffles, and the like. When I began, I did not know how basic the book would be. When I finished, those recipes seemed out of place. As for making your own vinegar – I couldn't part with it, because it was a pet project of mine. Probably it has no place in HTCE, but what the hell…

The first line in the duck leg recipe is "4 duck legs, trimmed of excess fat." Maybe it should read 'trimmed of all visible fat.' Everything, that is, that you can trim. In my experience, a great deal of the subcuteneous fat is rendered during the initial browning, and that which is rendered during the braising - and it is braising; most braised meats contain fat, after all - didn't seem excessive to me. But I suppose refrigerating and skimming the juices is an option. I did use supermarket ducks. (As you might suspect given my bent, I use supermarket ingredients for testing almost all of my recipes.) I've made that recipe since publishing it, and loved it. Maybe I have a higher fat tolerance? mb

Not to be entirely lazy, but there is an extensive section on exactly that question in How to Cook Everything.

I was asked to come up with a concept for a column in '94; The Minimalist began in '97. I don't have a firm concept, but I do think that to be 'minimalist' a recipe should meet two of these three requirements 1. it's fast – under an hour, preferably half that 2. it has few ingredients – certainly fewer than ten, more like 5 3. has little technique – just a couple of steps. 2 out of 3 ain't bad, if you think about it.

I would defer here; I don't know enough. It's not clear to me how it has changed, or how it will. I'm barely equipped to answer that question about American cuisine!

I'm not sure what I do is really 'new.' I think I do it in my own time, in my own style, and that's what makes it different. That and the fact that it was impossible to be quite as multi-national in previous generations as it is now.

The biggest challenge in working with JG was finding the time; we're both pretty busy. When we do, we cook together, with me scrambling from stove to laptop (I lost one laptop to vinegar spillage). Every recipe we've published was cooked by us, side by side, or at least by him with me by his side (and occasionally vice versa). Quite easy, actually, as long as he is willing to take the guidance of a home cook, which he always has been. If something is crazy difficult I tell him so and we either skip it – that is, discard the notion of doing the recipe – or try to figure out a way around it.

Having never worked in a restaurant, or had any desire to, I understand the sentiment. But there are only a few dozen people in the country making a living as food writers. Corny as it is, a lot of success is about persistence. If you want to write about food, start with a local paper and see if you can work your way into bigger venues. Don't expect to make a living for a long time, or big money ever. I'm working on a big international book, and have been since I finished How to Cook Everything. I'm at the stage where, frankly, I think it will stink. But every book has that stage, so I'm not too worried.