Samin Nosrat Is Making Space At The Table

Because of her food journalism, the food world has been well aware of Samin Nosrat for several years. But she became a household name when two things happened: First, her book, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking, became a runaway bestseller. The book explores the mysteries of cooking for the home chef and garnered just about every award a cookbook could get. In the words of Nosrat's mentor, Alice Waters (chef-owner of the legendary Berkeley, Calif., restaurant Chez Panisse) Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat "not only teaches you how to cook but captures how it should feel to cook: full of exploration, spontaneity and joy."

As if that weren't enough, Nosrat filmed a four-part docuseries with Netflix last fall that was also called Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. In it, she travels to Italy to explore the importance of fat (olive oil! Parmesan!); to Japan to see salt harvested and soy and miso fermented; then to Yucatán, Mexico, to see how acid, in the form of sour oranges, enhances dishes; and finally back to California to show us how heat transforms meats and vegetables.