Samin Nosrat

I love bitter broccoli rabe tossed with Calabrian chiles and hidden under a mountain of snowy shaved Parmesan.

I love roast chicken, juicy summer tomatoes, and carrot cake slathered with tangy cream-cheese frosting.

Salt's relationship to flavor is multidimensional: It has its own particular taste, and it both balances and enhances the flavor of other ingredients.

Apricots are the most private fruit, loath to reveal their secrets.

No one's born a good cook. You have to learn and practice.

I love mayonnaise. It's one of the first lessons I teach my cooking students. Turning eggs and oil into an emulsion - that creamy, satisfying third thing - feels like magic.

There's nothing historically in my life very flashy. I'm not exceptionally beautiful. I'm not exceptionally wealthy.

The beach has always been a constant in my life.

I have a lot of plants - my living room is like a jungle. I like the idea of bringing the outside in.

I grew up in San Diego with immigrant parents, before the food blogs, before this kind of celebrity chef culture we know now.

My mom, who left Iran in 1976, steeped us in the smells, tastes, and traditions of Persian cuisine.

I grew up eating and loving Persian food, going to school, and everyone making fun of me.