Good news! I’ve moved my personal newsletter off of the Milk Street mailing list and onto Substack, so that I can write about cooking, recipes, travel, food science, Vermont, as well as what I am reading and watching—free from other distractions. Time to pierce the corporate veil and speak directly to home cooks.
In addition to talking to you, I will also be hosting live conversations with culinary legends and newcomers alike, to get to know them better and to extract as much curious and useful content as possible.
I founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980, so I have been at this for over 45 years now and have a lot I want to share. You can get lousy food in Thailand; you also can get great food. Marinating, for the most part, doesn’t work. Don’t soak your wood chips for smoking. Start steaks in a low oven. Cook dark poultry meat to 200℉, not 175℉. Under-beat your egg whites. Start onions and oil in a cold pan. Don’t reduce the temperature of your oven by 25 degrees when using convection. Salt your beans when cooking them. The list goes on (and on).
Most of all, I want to share the wisdom I have gained from others. James Beard’s love of a the recipe back-story. Julia Child’s curiosity for all things culinary. Alice Waters’ passion for conversation. And the cooks from the back streets of Taipei to the streets of Oaxaca who have invited me into their homes to share their food, their family, and, sometimes, their mezcal.
I don’t care a whit about food trends or celebrity chefs or where to eat. I do care about whether vegetables have a soul, why we still count calories, how to make fried chicken ice cream, or how to barbecue in a wheelbarrow.
I want to share it all with you, one on one: the recipes, the tips, the disasters, the workarounds, the stories and the travel. It’s a crazy world, the wide world of food, and the stories are worth telling before it all becomes history.
What you’ll get as a free subscriber
As a free subscriber, you’ll get at least one newsletter from me in your inbox every week, with tales from Swearing Hill and the Yellow Farmhouse, glimpses into Vermont life, book recommendations, travel advice, and anything else I happen to be curious about that week. You’ll also get the occasional free recipe, usually something I learned from the chefs and home cooks I meet on the road.
What you’ll get as a paid subscriber
If you decide to upgrade to paid, you’ll get access to the entire archive of recipes published on this Substack, including paid-subscriber-only recipes, with new approaches to classic dishes, meals I make for myself at home, and culinary wisdom I’ve gathered from years of traveling around the world. Many of these recipes come from working in my own kitchen, beyond the recipes available on Milk Street.
You’ll also have a direct line to me. You’ll be able ask questions and start discussion threads in the community chat, leave comments on posts, and reply directly to me from your inbox. This is where we’ll talk, cook to cook, and I can’t wait to hear from you.
If you decide to become a founding member
Founding members get all the benefits of a paid subscriber, plus additional perks (and bragging rights), including monthly live Q&A’s (with exciting guests), a members-only tote bag, an annual gift subscription to give to a friend, and a cookbook autographed by me.
Some housekeeping…
If you can’t find the newsletter, check your Spam folder or Promotions tab, and move this email to your primary inbox.
Please join me!
Kind regards,
Christopher Kimball
P.S. You can unsubscribe in one click.
