Samin Nosrat

{{infobox chef

| name = Samin Nosrat

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1979|11|7}}

| birth_place = San Diego, California, U.S.

| education = University of California, Berkeley

| television = Salt Fat Acid Heat (2018)

| awards = {{awards|award=James Beard Award|year=2018|title=Salt Fat Acid Heat|role=|name=}}

| website = {{URL|ciaosamin.com}}

|known_for=Salt Fat Acid Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking (2017)}}

Samin Nosrat ({{langx|fa|ثمین نصرت}}, {{IPAc-en|s|@|'|m|i|n|_|'|n|V|s|ɹ|ɑ:|t}},{{Cite web|title=Learn to Cook Without Recipes using Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVfJu-2bs5I|accessdate=Dec 13, 2019|via=www.youtube.com}} born November 7, 1979) is an Iranian-American chef, TV host, food writer and podcaster.{{Cite news|last=Colin|first=Chris|date=April 26, 2017|title=Cooking With Samin|language=en|work=The California Sunday Magazine|url=https://story.californiasunday.com/cooking-with-samin|access-date=November 19, 2017}}{{Cite magazine|last=Fontoura|first=Maria|date=2020-05-07|title='RS Interview: Special Edition' With Samin Nosrat|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-news/samin-nosrat-cooking-home-interview-994813/|access-date=2021-12-26|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}

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.{{Cite web|title=Salt Fat Acid Heat|url=https://www.saltfatacidheat.com/|access-date=2021-02-03|website=SALT FAT ACID HEAT|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|last=Polis|first=Carey|date=10 October 2018|title='Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat' Is the New Netflix Series That's Very Much Worth Your Time|work=Bon Appétit|url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/salt-fat-acid-heat-netflix-series|access-date=13 October 2018}}{{Cite web|title=Salt Fat Acid Heat|url=https://www.helmpublishing.com/salt-fat-acid-heat|accessdate=Dec 13, 2019|website=www.helmpublishing.com|archive-date=September 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902014047/http://www.helmpublishing.com/salt-fat-acid-heat|url-status=dead}} From 2017 to 2021, she was a food columnist for The New York Times Magazine.{{Cite web|date=June 28, 2017|title=NYT Mag's New "Eat" Columnist: Samin Nosrat|url=https://www.nytco.com/nyt-mags-new-eat-columnist-samin-nosrat/|access-date=November 19, 2017|website=The New York Times Company|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|last=Nosrat|first=Samin|date=2021-02-03|title=Saying Goodbye With Beans|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/magazine/samin-nosrat-beans-recipe.html|access-date=2021-02-03|issn=0362-4331}} Nosrat was also the co-host of the podcast Home Cooking.

Early life and education

Nosrat was born in San Diego, California. She was raised in University City, San Diego and attended La Jolla High School. Her parents emigrated from Iran to the United States in 1976, fleeing state sanctioned persecution of Baháʼís.{{cite news|last1=Hensel|first1=Kelly|title=Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking|url=http://www.ift.org/food-technology/past-issues/2017/may/columns/culinary-point-of-view-samin-nosrat.aspx|work=Food Technology|issue=5|publisher=Institute of Food Technologists|date=May 2017|volume=71}}{{Cite web|date=2020-05-05|title=Meet Samin Nosrat: Netflix Series Host, Star Chef, and Bestselling Cookbook Author|url=https://kayhanlife.com/authors/nazanine-nouri/meet-samin-nosrat-netflix-series-host-star-chef-and-bestselling-cookbook-author/|access-date=2020-05-05|website=Kayhan Life|language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine|last=Rosner|first=Helen|date=23 February 2020|title="I Fail Almost Every Day": An Interview with Samin Nosrat|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/i-fail-almost-every-day-an-interview-with-samin-nosrat|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en|access-date=2020-05-05}} When Nosrat was 1 1/2 years old, her older sister Samar passed away at age 3 due to a terminal brain cancer.{{Cite web |title=Freakonomics Radio: Extra: Samin Nosrat Always Wanted to Be Famous on Apple Podcasts |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/extra-samin-nosrat-always-wanted-to-be-famous/id354668519?i=1000594554241 |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=Apple Podcasts |language=en-GB}}

She grew up eating mostly Iranian cuisine, and though she did not learn to cook until she was an adult, she has said that food was an important part of her childhood.{{Cite web|last=Harris|first=Molly|date=2021-04-13|title=Samin Nosrat Talks Waffles + Mochi And Why Cardamom Will Always Have A Special Place In Her Spice Rack - Exclusive Interview|url=https://www.mashed.com/381168/samin-nosrat-talks-waffles-mochi-and-why-cardamom-will-always-have-a-special-place-in-her-spice-rack-exclusive-interview/|access-date=2021-12-26|website=Mashed.com|language=en-US}}

Nosrat attended the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in English.{{Cite news|last=Cowan|first=Jill|date=2019-01-29|title=An Interview With Samin Nosrat: I Identify as a Californian|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/us/california-today-samin-nosrat.html|access-date=2019-01-30|issn=0362-4331}}

Career

= Early career =

In 2000, as a sophomore in college, Nosrat ate dinner at Chez Panisse and immediately applied to work there as a busser. She 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."

After leaving Chez Panisse, Nosrat worked in Italy and then other Berkeley-area restaurants.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/t-magazine/food/persian-frittata-michael-pollan-samin-nosrat.html|title=An Herby Persian Frittata From Michael Pollan's Chef Teacher|last=Druckman|first=Charlotte|date=April 8, 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 19, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} She worked as a sous-chef and took catering jobs before starting to teach private cooking classes in 2007.{{Cite web|last=Kahn|first=Mattie|date=2019-10-15|title=At Samin Nosrat's Table, There's Always Enough to Go Around|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/samin-nosrat-interview|access-date=2021-12-26|website=Glamour|language=en-US}} She has said that she soon felt that a television show would be a more efficient way of teaching; however, it would be years before that would happen.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eater.com/2018/10/10/17949862/samin-nosrat-salt-fat-acid-heat-netflix|title=Samin Nosrat Turned Her TV Dream Into a Reality With Netflix's 'Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat'|last=Morabito|first=Greg|date=2018-10-10|website=Eater|access-date=2019-01-30}}

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".{{Cite news|url=https://www.motherjones.com/media/2017/04/samin-nosrat-salt-fat-acid-heat-soup-chez-panisse/|title=This simple advice completely changed the way I eat|last=Oatman|first=Maddie|date=April 21, 2017|work=Mother Jones|access-date=November 19, 2017|language=en-US}}

= ''Salt Fat Acid Heat'' =

== Cookbook ==

Nosrat's 2017 cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat, illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton and including a foreword by Michael Pollan, explains the fundamental principles of good cooking which she defines by the four pillars named in the title. Instead of focusing on recipes alone, each pillar has its own chapter where Nosrat teaches readers through stories and wisdom gained from her years as a professional chef and cooking teacher. Rare for a cookbook, it teaches readers "from the ground up, how to be a good cook,"{{Cite magazine|last=Rosner|first=Helen|date=2019-07-14|title=The Best Cookbooks of the Century So Far|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/the-best-cookbooks-of-the-century-so-far|access-date=2021-12-26|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}} functioning more as a textbook than a recipe collection. The intention is that readers can improve their every day cooking with a fundamental understanding of food, improvising instead of needing to follow recipes. Published in 2017, it has remained on best-selling lists for over three years.

The book was named "Food Book of the Year" by The Times of London{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/books-of-the-year-food-review-3cstrg93b|title=Books of the year: Food|last=Angelini|first=Francesca|date=November 19, 2017|work=The Times of London|access-date=November 30, 2017|issn=0140-0460}} and was a New York Times best seller.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2017/06/18/advice-how-to-and-miscellaneous/|title=Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books - Best Sellers |date=June 18, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 19, 2017|language=en|issn=0362-4331}} The cookbook also won the 2018 James Beard Award for Best General Cookbook,{{cite news|last1=Yadegaran|first1=Jessica|title=Chez Panisse alum Samin Nosrat wins James Beard cookbook award|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/30/chez-panisse-alum-samin-nosrat-wins-james-beard-cookbook-award/|work=The Mercury News|date=April 30, 2018}} was named Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and won the 2018 IACP Julia Child First Book Award. In 2019, it was named one of the ten "Best Cookbooks of the Century So Far" by Helen Rosner in The New Yorker.

== Television show ==

A Netflix docu-series and travelogue 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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/salt-fat-acid-heat-netflix-series |title='Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat' Is the New Netflix Series That's Very Much Worth Your Time |last=Polis |first=Carey |date=10 October 2018 |work=Bon Appétit |access-date=13 October 2018}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.eater.com/2018/10/24/18014782/salt-fat-acid-heat-samin-nosrat-eating-cooking-food-tv-netflix|title='Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat' Changes the Rules for Who Gets to Eat on TV|work=Eater|access-date=2018-10-28}} The show was described by The Washington Post as "unlike any other food show on TV"{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2018/10/15/netflixs-new-salt-fat-acid-heat-is-unlike-any-other-food-show-on-tv/|title=Review {{!}} Netflix's new 'Salt Fat Acid Heat' is unlike any other food show on TV|last=Judkis|first=Maura|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2018-10-28}} and helped launch Nosrat to "household-name status."

= ''Home Cooking'' =

In March 2020, Nosrat and friend Hrishikesh Hirway, who created the popular podcast Song Exploder, started the podcast Home Cooking, which set out to help people cook for themselves in the midst of the COVID-19 global health crisis.{{Cite web|last=Adrian-Diaz|first=Jenna|date=7 April 2020|title=Samin Nosrat on Stocking Your Kitchen, Comfort Food, and Her All-New "Home Cooking" Podcast|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/samin-nosrat-home-cooking-advice-podcast|access-date=2020-06-23|website=Vogue|language=en-us}} Originally planned as a four-part mini-series, the podcast continued to publish sporadic episodes over the course of the pandemic. It currently does not have a public plan to either continue or end, though the most recent episode is from December 2024.{{Cite web|title=Home Cooking|url=https://homecooking.show/|access-date=2021-12-26|website=Home Cooking|language=en-US}}

The show is structured as a cooking advice show where Nosrat answers listener questions about cooking. It initially started as a way of answering the question, "How do I use the things I have in my pantry?" during a time when people were over-buying particular ingredients out of fear early in the pandemic and didn't have access to many other things. It later grew beyond this type of troubleshooting.{{Cite web|title=Samin Nosrat's 'Home Cooking' Podcast Will Make Your Quarantine Cooking Better|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dmepq/samin-nosrats-home-cooking-podcast-will-make-your-quarantine-cooking-better|access-date=2021-12-26|website=www.vice.com|date=27 March 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite web|date=March 27, 2020|first=Bridget|last=Hallinan|title=Samin Nosrat's New 'Home Cooking' Podcast Is Exactly What We Needed|url=https://www.foodandwine.com/news/samin-nosrat-home-cooking-podcast|access-date=2021-12-26|website=Food & Wine|language=en}}

The show won the 2021 iHeartRadio award for Best Food Show, and was named one of the best podcasts of 2020 by Time,{{Cite magazine|title=The 10 Best Podcasts of 2020|url=https://time.com/5907401/best-podcasts-2020/|magazine=Time}} Rolling Stone,{{Cite magazine|first1=Andrea |last1=Marks|first2=Elisabeth |last2=Garber-Paul |first3=Brenna|last3=Ehrlich|date=December 18, 2020|title=The Best Podcasts of 2020|magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/best-podcasts-2020-1105406/}} Vulture,{{Cite web|last=Quah|first=Nicholas|date=December 10, 2020|title=The Best Podcasts of 2020|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/the-best-podcasts-of-2020.html|website=Vulture}} The Economist,{{Cite news|date=December 16, 2020|title=The best podcasts of 2020|url=https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/16/the-best-podcasts-of-2020|newspaper=The Economist}} and The Atlantic.{{Cite web|first1=Laura Jane |last1=Standley |first2=Eric |last2=McQuade|date=December 26, 2020|title=The 50 Best Podcasts of 2020|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/12/50-best-podcasts-2020/617486/|website=The Atlantic}}

= Other projects =

From 2017 to 2021, Nosrat was a regular "Eat" columnist for The New York Times Magazine.

In March 2019, Nosrat announced a second cookbook, again in collaboration with MacNaughton, titled What to Cook.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Samin-Nosrat-to-follow-Salt-Fat-Acid-13665332.php|title=Berkeley author Samin Nosrat to follow 'Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat' with new book, 'What To Cook'|last=Phillips|first=Justin|date=2019-03-05|website=San Francisco Chronicle|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-09}} Ten Speed Press will publish the collection of 120 recipes. Similar to her first book, Nosrat's second cookbook is about helping home cooks navigate the kitchen more similarly to professional cooks. What to Cook will also cover four elements, the ones used for decision making: time, ingredients, resources, and preferences. Nosrat called them the "invisible set of constraints you face every time you set out to cook". In March 2025, Nosrat announced a different title and concept for the cookbook. It is called Good Things and comes out September 2025.{{Cite web |date=March 11, 2025 |title=Samin Nosrat reveals her new book, 'Good Things' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/video/samin-nosrat-reveals-new-book-good-things-119661483 |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=ABC News |language=en}}

Also in 2019, she was included on Time{{'}}s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.{{cite web |last1=Hallinan |first1=Bridget |title=Massimo Bottura, Chrissy Teigen, and Samin Nosrat Make the 2019 Time 100 List |url=https://www.foodandwine.com/news/time-100-list-food-2019 |website=Food & Wine |access-date=December 24, 2021 |language=en |date=April 17, 2019}}

In 2021, Nosrat made a guest appearance on Michelle Obama's children's cooking show called Waffles + Mochi on Netflix.

Personal life

Nosrat lives in Oakland, California with her dog, Fava.

References

External links

{{Official website|http://ciaosamin.com}}
[https://www.saltfatacidheat.com Salt Fat Acid Heat website]
Interview: [https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/05/30/726375712/samin-nosrat-is-making-space-at-the-table Samin Nosrat Is Making Space At The Table (2019)], from NPR

Category:1979 births

Category:Living people

Category:American writers of Iranian descent

Category:American cookbook writers

Category:People from San Diego

Category:Writers from Berkeley, California

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:American Bahá'ís

Category:American women chefs

Category:Women food writers

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century American women writers