I’m sitting on my bed, my toes grazing the edge of Momo’s back while he lounges at my feet. It’s the third of January, a new year, with new desires, intentions, and ambitions. I’m not sure about you, but I’m teetering between feeling energized and looking forward to the months to come and completely exhausted and overwhelmed by reality.
Thinking back on the last year, I clocked that something was missing. My days blended together in a pandemic, commuting, homework, working, errands, streaming, dog-walking, sleeping haze. It dawned on me that I was completely devoid of hobbies. I was (and am) in survival mode, as most of us have been for years. Not just pandemic-response survival mode, but the crushing-weight-of-capitalism survival mode. I was trying to get through the days, trying to make it to the weekend and the days off. Yearning for rest while losing sight of the things that make me, me. And in this desire to find a hobby and build some growth into my life, I am choosing curiosity and my love of food.
Looking back on the books I most enjoy reading, I always land on memoirs by chefs. Reflecting on some of my favorite ways to spend my time and money, I always choose food and cooking. Thinking about how I structure any vacations, it’s always been about where and what we are eating. The life rafts of the last two years have been the sushi we got from Sushi Ogawa on my 31st birthday, the smoked shrimp we ate on a stoop at Calumet Fisheries, the chocolate layer cake with buttercream frosting I taught myself to make, the trips to Gene’s for landjägers and good mustard, the salty buckwheat chocolate chunk cookies I baked in batches and mailed to friends, and the sourdough starter I was given my second week of school that has proved good fodder for me to learn the heady Tartine method of breadmaking.
To try to anchor myself to something (re: anything) while focusing on nurturing myself, I’ve come up with a plan.* To cook myself through the unknowns of 2022.
For those who have been reading my blogs and newsletters for years and those who know me IRL (many of you are both), it should not be news that “Julia and Julia” is one of my comfort movies. I watch it at least once a year, if not more. There’s something incredibly warming and satisfying about the story, with its parallels between two seemingly “lost” women, grappling with their raison d’être and ultimately falling in love with food and cooking. Julia Child, a beloved protagonist in the public eye and in my heart, is at the center of this story, finding a rhythm in the kitchen and out in the French markets that was both contagious and effervescent. I fell hard for Child, devouring My Life in France, teaching myself how to make her omelettes, and growing to understand why she favored white pepper to black (for aesthetics!).
I always liked the idea of trying to cook my way through a cookbook, though I never felt driven, focused, or ambitious enough to tackle it. Not to mention, how do you pick the book? Decisions, decisions; commitment, commitment. Enter Salt Fat Acid Heat and Samin Nosrat. I was first introduced to Nosrat through my Mom. I recall it was the holidays, 2018, and we watched her television show Salt Fat Acid Heat in rapid succession. I was entranced. Who was this bubbly, joyful, chef, so curious and committed to flavor? Todd gifted me her book, which I pawed through, cooking recipes that always always came out good. Chicken stock that cooks so low and slow that it gets a gelatinous wiggle when you let it cool in the fridge. Pie dough that broke my intimidation of making pie dough from scratch. Tomato sauce that is not only rich, but hails from a cooking competition at Chez Panisse, and doubles as a delicious pizza sauce.
And so, As Salty As The Sea is born. It takes its name from Nosrat’s recommendation to salt your blanching and pasta water “as salty as the sea.” It is a writing and cooking project that I hope will carry perhaps an ounce of the poetry, humor, and delight that Nosrat brings to the table. It is a space for me to document what I’m cooking and learning and share some of the tips and tricks I’m pulling from the lessons in Nosrat’s book. In combining photography and writing, I hope to create accountability for myself as a writer, cook, and hobby-haver while also drawing in readers, friends, and community. Over the course of the next year, I want to step out of my comfort zone in the kitchen, visit farmer’s markets, cook with the seasons, and decrease my food waste. In addition to trying new recipes and techniques, I’m focusing on feeding and caring for myself in the best way I know how, through home cooked meals and time in the kitchen. Won’t you join me?
*The plan includes a detailed spreadsheet of recipes and pairings, a month-by-month meal plan, and a growing collection of salt!
My wooden kitchen counter is topped with yellow semolina pasta dough being fed into a red metal pasta maker.