My Favorite Cooks Whose Food I've Never Tasted

Sometimes, food novels/memoirs & online cooking videos fill a hunger that real food doesn't.

I’m still coming down from the endorphins of teaching myself to cook. Part of this means recalibrating expectations to a regular weeknight meal. Fat tuna steaks, a spontaneous bolognese, or deep-frying tofu for the first time? Off the table. Those adventures exist for the weekends.

Since my Self-Taught series, I’m more adventurous choosing odd vegetables I wouldn’t have bought before (…broccoli rabe, radishes…not that wild…), but the cooking routine is pretty copy and paste with that sweet sauté-and-salt. I made one salad, with radishes, thank you very much. My stubbornness to survive on cheese and pasta makes salads a novel choice for my lifestyle (don’t tell my metabolism), and I goaded myself with homemade croutons.

When I want that same level of wow about the possibilities of food without the trouble of preparing that on a Wednesday night with a fridge with scattered condiments, I find these books and online accounts scratch that itch.

Of course, you could watch THE BEAR or CHEF’S …