The Critic’s Kitchen

Everything about writing this cookbook benefits from the things I learned while writing restaurant reviews. Meanwhile, I learned a lot from my radio listeners and callers as we discussed dishes that perhaps no restaurant is serving. A fair number of the correspondents have disagreed with me and in the process given me still more and better ideas.

My favorite example of this was a modification of the sacred recipe for making red beans and rice. A radio caller asked how much celery I put into a pot of beans. One stick, I told him. “Next time, use three or four ribs,” he said. It was such an improvement that I’ve used it ever since. I don’t know what I’d do without my listeners.