I do not stop using lemon, herbs, or balsamic when October comes. I just use them differently. By then, I still want brightness. I just want it underneath something deeper.
All posts by Chef Alexis Hernandez
Salt Isn’t the Point. Contrast Is
The beet salad was salted right. The acid was right too. It still felt flat. What it needed was not more correction. It needed something to push against.
Bring Me the Green Apple
The pumpkin soup was already good. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, comfort in a bowl. Then the chef said, “Bring me the green apple. Wash it first,” and the whole lesson changed.
Temperature Is a Seasoning
I learned this at 2:00 a.m. in a Chicago diner, when a server asked if I wanted my apple pie warmed. One bite of hot pie and cold ice cream changed the way I think about flavor.
What I Hope Readers Find in What the Pan Remembers
A friend recognized her own pre-party ritual in one of my essays. Her response showed me what I hope readers find in What the Pan Remembers.
Why I Wrote What the Pan Remembers
What the Pan Remembers is not a cookbook or a traditional chronological memoir. It is a collection of 28 personal essays in which kitchens provide the setting and memory decides where the stories go.
