Critics at Large | The New Yorker

What's Cooking?

12 snips
Sep 25, 2025
Helen Rosner, a food writer and New Yorker staff writer, dives into the evolving landscape of home cooking and cookbooks. She discusses Samin Nosrat's new book, 'Good Things,' highlighting its blend of narrative and practical cooking advice. Rosner explores the impact of culinary influencers, the intimacy of food knowledge, and pandemic cooking fatigue. She also reflects on modern cookbook authors, the dinner party as a cultural milestone for millennials, and how cooking shapes personal identity and intellectual life.
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INSIGHT

Cooking As A Lifestyle Movement

  • Home cooking has become a visible lifestyle shaped by online personalities and cookbooks like Samin Nosrat's.
  • This shift blends practical recipes with aspirational presentation, changing how people learn to cook.
ANECDOTE

Perfecting One Dish Over Years

  • Vinson described honing single signature dishes over years, like broiled carrots with garlic labneh and nut topping.
  • He treats these perfected dishes as his party contributions and personal culinary projects.
ADVICE

Use Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat As Grammar

  • Learn the building blocks—salt, fat, acid, heat—to improvise in the kitchen without strict recipes.
  • Use those elements as a grammar to create and adjust dishes by taste rather than exact measures.
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