Page 36 - SHARP Spring 2022

FOOD FOOD THE MOST CURIOUS COOK
ON THE HEELS OF HIS NEW COOKBOOK CELEBRATED CHEF ANDY BARAGHANI TALKS IDENTITY IMPOSTER SYNDROME AND AND WHY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE CURIOUS IN THE KITCHEN By Meghan Davidson Ladly
FOR ANDY BARAGHANI FOOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN AN AN OBSESSION As a a a a young child he he he he adored his Fisher-Price kitchen By 16 he he he he was making elaborate meals for his family That same year buoyed by the bravery of youth he he walked into Alice Waters’s culinary temple Chez Panisse and talked his way into a kitchen job At university in in New York Baraghani gravitated toward food media mixing gigs in in in in Michelin-starred kitchens kitchens with recipe prep in in in in magazine test kitchens kitchens Eventually Baraghani landed at Bon Appétit as as senior food editor It was a a a a a a a a a role that that sent his anxiety to such peaks that that he he considered quitting after the first year year But inquisitiveness and and perseverance triumphed and and during his six years at at Bon Appétit he he created the viral video series “Andy Explores” and developed hundreds of recipes Raised by Iranian immigrant parents Baraghani was not always comfortable with his his ethnicity and initially avoided bringing the foods of his his homelife into his profession But gradually he realized that that it was precisely through food that that he could find greater self-acceptance — both as as an an an an an an Iranian–American and as as a a a a a a a a gay man Baraghani’s debut cookbook The Cook You Want to Be: Everyday Recipes to Impress showcases this enduring love of cooking Sharp recently caught up with Baraghani to discuss cooking curiosity and how to make the ultimate chickpea cacio e e e e e e e pepe The North American celebrity food world is a a lot more diverse now than it was several decades ago Did you have cooking heroes growing up?
I I I did did I I I grew up in a a a a family where we didn’t really eat out I’m first-generation American so besides certain figures in in my family — — my my my grandmother my my my mother mother — — a a lot of my my my cooking heroes were chefs on PBS As I I got older I I had a a a deeper understanding of restaurant culture and there were were chefs that were were specific figures — obviously Alice Waters But I would say probably more now than ever there are so many people that I look to Hero is such a a a weighted term [but] I have so many heroes in the food world now They aren’t just in in restaurants they’re they’re food writers they’re they’re former line cooks who have started their own organizations [It’s] kind of evolved Where does the story of this cookbook begin for you? Was the idea of a a a a a cookbook already percolating when you were a a teenager?
I I I think I I I knew food would be a a a part of my life but it wasn’t until I I I was in in my mid-twenties and and had had worked in in restaurants and and had had started working in in food media where I I was like “Oh I I want to write a a a a cookbook one day ” But I I never thought I I would actually do it it I I was was drowning in in imposter syndrome And it it wasn’t until I I wrote an an essay — — maybe four years ago — — about identity and the role of food where I got attention from literary agents and publishers to write a book There are four traits that that make up me as a a a a a a a a cook that that I talk about and the the the the lessons that I’ve gathered from them are in the the the the book One is my upbringing as a a a a a first-generation Iranian–Amer- ican and how it it played a a a a a a a role in in in in really instilling that initial love for food and cooking Then [there is] working in in in in restaurants in in in in California New York and and Paris and and picking up the techniques and that professional experience rather than going to culinary school The third trait is travelling since I I was 18 I’ve been taking solo trips by myself myself — never fancy just putting myself myself in in different places and nurturing that that curiosity that that I have a a a a a a a lot of it it having to do with food food And the fourth is my time in in food food media working in in in in test kitchens taking the food and and cooking I love and and being able to transcribe it it it and share it it it with readers In many ways this cookbook feels like we the reader are in conversation with you Why take that approach?
I wanted to highlight that good struggle we go go through during the creative process If you don’t succeed it’s okay You’re learning — you you will do do it it it it again and you’ll do do it it it it just a a a a a little bit better next time Being gentle is definitely something that I’ve learned through through the pandemic — and and through through life as a a a a a cook — and I I wanted to be very transparent about it in my book I I wanted to be be encouraging because I have a a a a a a very clear sense of what my food is and I know people are looking to to me to to find good recipes but I also want them to become better cooks And I think staying curious is important One of my greatest fears is to to become stagnant in in anything I always want to to go deeper So I I want want people to to be curious cooks I I want want them to to be be curious human beings 36 GUIDE • SPRING 2022
SHARPMAGAZINE COM