Samin Nosrat

Samin Nosrat (Persian: ثمین نصرت‎, /səˈmin ˈnʌsrɑːt/,^[1] born November 7, 1979) is an American chef, TV host and food writer.^[2] She is the author of the James Beard Award–winning New York Times Bestselling cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat and host of a Netflix docu-series of the same name.^[3][2][4][5] Until February 2021, she was a columnist for The New York Times Magazine.^[6][7]

Early life and education[]

Nosrat was born in San Diego, California, on November 7, 1979.^[8] Her parents emigrated from Iran to the United States in 1976.^[9] Born in Iran, they had left that country due to state sanctioned persecution of followers, like her father, of the Baháʼí Faith.^[10][11] Nosrat grew up in University City, San Diego and attended La Jolla High School.^[12] She grew up eating mostly Iranian cuisine, and she did not learn to cook until she was an adult.^[9]

In 1997, Nosrat enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in English.^[12] As a sophomore in 2000, she ate dinner at Chez Panisse and immediately decided to work there as a busser.^[12] Nosrat eventually worked her way up to the restaurant kitchen, becoming a cook and working with Alice Waters, who described her as "America's next great cooking teacher."^[2][6][9]

Career[]

Early career[]

After leaving Chez Panisse, Nosrat worked in Italy and then other Berkeley-area restaurants.^[13] She started teaching private cooking classes in 2007, and soon felt that a television show would be a more efficient way of teaching; however it would be years before that would happen.^[14]

She later worked with Michael Pollan, and was included in his book and the 2016 Netflix documentary television series Cooked as "the chef who taught Michael Pollan how to cook".^[15]

Salt Fat Acid Heat[]

Nosrat's 2017 cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat, illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton and including a foreword by Michael Pollan, was named "Food Book of the Year" by The Times of London^[16] and was a New York Times best seller.^[17] The cookbook also won the 2018 James Beard Award for Best General Cookbook,^[18] was named Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and won the 2018 IACP Julia Child First Book Award.^[19]

A Netflix docu-series based on the cookbook, also called Salt Fat Acid Heat, was released on October 11, 2018, with each of the four episodes based on one of the four elements of cooking set out in the title.^[20] In episode 1, Nosrat goes to Italy to talk about the use of fat in cooking; in episode 2, Japan for salt; in episode 3, Mexico for acid; and in episode 4, returns to the United States, cooking at Chez Panisse as well as with her own mother, to discuss heat.^[21] The show was described by The Washington Post as "unlike any other food show on TV".^[22]

Other projects[]

Nosrat became a regular "Eat" columnist for The New York Times Magazine in 2017.^[6]

In March 2019, Nosrat announced a forthcoming second cookbook, again in collaboration with MacNaughton, called What to Cook,^[19] Ten Speed Press will publish the collection of 120 recipes.^[19]

In March 2020, Nosrat and her producer Hrishikesh Hirway started the podcast Home Cooking, which set out to help people cook for themselves in the midst of the COVID-19 global health crisis.^[23]

In February 2021, Nosrat left her position as a columnist for The New York Times Magazine.^[7]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Salt Fat Acid Heat website
• Interview: Samin Nosrat Is Making Space At The Table (2019), from NPR