Salt Fat Acid Heat (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Episode #1.4 - full transcript
[fire crackling]
[Samin] Heat.
It's the element of transformation.
-[sizzling]
-Heat takes food from raw to cooked.
Flabby to firm.
Pale to golden brown.
-[loud sizzling]
-Sizzles,
splatters,
crackles,
steam,
-and aromas...
-[sniffing]
are all the results of applying heat
to food.
And once you understand how heat works,
you can be confident
that whatever you cook will taste great.
[toaster pops, dings]
[violin music playing]
[door hinge creaks]
-[seagulls squawk]
-[door clicks]
["Like This, Like That"
by The California Honeydrops playing]
I've traveled the world to explore
the elements that define good cooking.
But in the end, I had to come home.
♪ Be glad you woke up
Be glad you broke up ♪
[Samin] Because this
is where my cooking career began,
at Chez Panisse,
the iconic restaurant
that pioneered cooking
with local seasonal ingredients.
♪ Who knows
Just what might happen there? ♪
♪ Be glad you woke up ♪
-[Samin] Hi. How are you?
-[chef] Hi.
-Good, how are you?
-Good.
♪ Be glad you're walking ♪
[Samin] At first,
the kitchen intimidated me.
The numbers on the oven dials
had worn away,
and people cooked in a giant hearth
over an open fire.
That just seemed crazy.
It took me some time to learn
to pay attention to the food
and not the fire,
and to use my senses
to look, listen, smell, taste...
to master the final element
in good cooking: heat.
♪ Be glad you're talking ♪
♪ 'Cause who knows just
What might happen there? ♪
[Samin] We gonna grill some steaks?
-[chef] Let's.
-[Samin] Okay.
-[wood crackling]
-[soft piano music playing]
[chef] All right.
[Samin] Some of my earliest memories
are watching you grill steaks.
And there's just such an elegant way
that you have of cooking,
and it's so quiet and calm,
that I've always aspired to that.
I am not quiet or calm.
[both laugh]
[Samin] I just want to point out
that this is Amy Dencler,
head chef of Chez Panisse.
And her paring knife is a buck knife.
[both laugh]
[Amy] I like the shape of the blade,
and that's why I bought it
maybe 30 years ago.
-It's definitely a relic, for sure.
-[laughs]
[crackling]
-Oh, sounds like it's getting there!
-Oh, yeah.
[both laugh]
[Samin] One of the most important things
to building a fire
is you want to have
different heat zones.
Amy has this kind of ingenious thing
where she puts new coals in in the back,
and as they burn down,
she pulls them toward the front.
Usually I have a little cooler
on the right and hotter on the left.
Sometimes you don't want
whatever you're grilling
to be really close to the back of the fire
where it's extra smokey.
[sizzling]
[Samin] Just like when you have a stove
and you can turn it up or down,
you want to give yourself those options
over the grill, too.
When you watch a commercial for a grill,
they're all about the grill marks
and the perfect 90-degree crosshatches.
Those people are missing out on flavor,
'cause browning is flavor.
If you take one thing away
from this magical woman's grilling lesson,
it's stop cooking your food
directly over flame,
and make yourself a couple different zones
to be moving over.
-This is the most un-Chez Panisse oiling--
-[Amy] Technique?
-[Samin] Yeah.
-[both laugh]
[Amy] We're going for medium rare.
Most of the heat is in the back,
so I'm turning the steaks
towards the heat,
-so they're cooking evenly.
-[sizzling]
I'm gonna cook them most of the way
on this one side,
and then turn them.
[Samin] Do it, girl.
Even if you don't have a grill at home,
you can use the same information
to do it the same way on a stove in a pan.
You want to cook it more than halfway
on the first side,
and then let it cook through
to medium rare, whatever you like,
on the second side.
So the first two are done,
and it's really just a feel thing.
This is still so soft and tender,
but it has a little bit of resistance.
It's not just mushy.
It doesn't feel
like the inside of my cheek.
Do I have to... taste a little?
-Yes.
-[laughs]
What do you think?
[Samin] It's so good.
[Amy] Did you put salt--?
[Samin] A little salt in the parsley,
but let's taste it.
Here, I'll put it on a potato for you.
Tastes good.
-Okay.
-I love it.
-Let me get some forks.
-[both chuckle]
[both laughing]
Mm.
-Pretty good.
-Pretty delicious.
[Samin] The browning is just so perfect
and so even on the whole thing.
That's Ms. Amy Dencler for you.
[birds chirping]
[indistinct chatter]
[Samin] One of the valuable lessons
I learned at Chez Panisse
was that you don't have to use
expensive ingredients to make good food.
All you need to find
are simple quality staples
and to treat them with respect.
So knowing what to look for
is the first step
on your way to a good meal.
[machine whirrs]
What can we do for you today?
Wow. Well, I sort of just wanted to talk
about the different cuts of meat.
-Okay.
-I'm so curious.
Like, how would you describe
what fat does for a steak?
[butcher] I mean, a lot of people
are turned off by fat.
Fat is not necessarily
a bad thing at all.
It provides flavor for what you're doing.
[Samin] Can we look at a few kinds
-of rib eyes to compare the fat?
-Definitely.
We're gonna start with the First Light.
This is the 100% grass-fed grass-finished.
When looking for a steak
at a grocery store,
look for the speckled marbling.
If you see this
in just about any cut of meat,
you can tell you're gonna have
a good eating experience.
-It's gonna be tender.
-[butcher] Exactly.
And this is where all the flavor's
gonna come from, the fat on the inside.
Marbling's the name
for this fat here, right?
-Yes.
-This is a different kind of fat.
[butcher] That's just the cap off the top
of the whole rib.
That's the stuff that, like, cooks up
into a lump on your mouth
that you'll, like, end up chewing
and throwing out anyway, right?
Exactly. And we don't want to do that.
We want to provide enough fat
to where you get the flavor,
it helps with the cooking process,
but you're not gnawing away
on a big chunk of fat.
So we can take a look
at this New York here,
and you can see
this is a bit thicker than the marbling
that we were seeing in the grass-fed beef.
So that's what I'm looking for
when I'm buying a steak?
-The most marbling?
-[butcher] That's what I recommend.
You want to shop with your eyes.
If something doesn't look good,
it's probably not gonna taste that good.
[Samin] So say, like, that brisket.
The quality of this fat is not the same
as the quality of the fat in the steak.
No. For the most part,
the marbling that you see in a steak
will virtually melt away when you cook it.
To where this fat cap on here,
it's gonna be there when it's done.
But if you cook your brisket properly,
this fat is gonna soak through the meat
while it's cooking,
which is gonna create more flavor.
You're probably gonna get a tender
end result because of it.
And it's gonna help keep it moist.
I mean, brisket fat is so delicious.
I love it so much, so... [laughs]
The top restaurants that do burgers
are doing a blend.
And they'll mix in brisket,
short rib, a little bit of chuck,
and you've got the best burger.
-'Cause there's flavor and fat.
-[butcher] Exactly. Exactly.
[fire crackling]
[Samin] It doesn't matter
whether you're cooking
over a stove, an open fire,
or in a slow cooker.
The goal is always the same.
Apply the right level of heat
so that the surface of your food
and its interior
are done cooking at the same time.
-[bird chirps]
-[calming music playing]
[Samin] So,
any time I'm planning a dinner,
I choose one element
to really be the way I build the menu.
Since I'm making chicken,
that's the anchor.
So I'm choosing ingredients and dishes
that will complement it and be really nice
next to it on the table.
So I think I'm gonna make a big salad
with roasted vegetables and beans.
And then my mom is coming over. O-M-G.
And... [laughs]
Uh, I'm gonna have her instruct me
once and for all
in how to make the perfect tahdig,
which is the Persian rice
with the perfect crust.
And there's a great lesson in there
about using the different methods of heat
to get the perfect texture that we want.
Chicken. It's really not cool to say,
but it's my favorite.
Favorite meat.
[rustling]
If there were a single recipe
to really sum up the lessons
of Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat,
it would be this buttermilk-marinated
roast chicken.
The buttermilk provides both fat and acid
that really tenderizes the meat
and then, of course, heat.
Using the right amount of heat
to get that bird beautifully browned
on the outside
and nice and moist on the inside.
The buttermilk expands
your margin for error.
If you forget it and overcook it
for five or ten minutes,
the buttermilk is insurance,
and it's the most delicious kind
of insurance.
If you've never roasted a chicken,
this is the perfect place to start.
People often think
that cooking really starts
the moment you turn the oven on,
but in reality, it starts a lot earlier.
We got some chickens in buttermilk
with salt that we did yesterday.
You have to bring meat up
to room temperature.
You have to pull it out from the fridge
and let it sit on the counter
for an hour or longer,
depending on the size.
When you go straight from the fridge
into the oven, it will never cook evenly.
The skin of the chicken will rip,
the outside will get burnt and overly dry
before the inside can even cook.
That's why a lot of Thanksgiving turkeys
come out raw.
So the oven's nice and hot.
It's about 425,
but the precise temperature
doesn't really matter that much.
The back of the oven
is where all the heat really is,
because every time you open the oven,
all of the heat escapes out the front.
So, the front will always be cooler,
and the back will always be hotter.
So, if we put the chickens with the legs
facing toward the back,
the whole bird will cook more evenly
because legs always need
a longer time than the breasts to cook.
We have been trained to believe
that oven cooking is so precise
'cause you turn a dial and you set it
and you don't have to think about it.
But that actually couldn't be further
from the truth.
The oven is a surprisingly imprecise
form of heat...
because it works on a thermostat.
And just like your house,
when you set that thermostat,
it doesn't stop climbing
when it reaches that temperature.
It goes way past it.
Sometimes, it can go 30 degrees,
depending on what oven you have.
So, you have to use your senses.
You open it, you check, you look,
you smell, you touch.
These are all the cues
that help you figure out how to cook.
[oven closes]
Since they're browning totally unevenly,
the outsides are browning
and the insides are not,
I'm just gonna move them around.
So now they'll have a chance
to brown evenly on both sides,
but the legs can still be
toward the back of the oven.
[sighs] Okay.
Meat goes through a transformation
as it cooks.
[cranks]
Tender cuts of meat, like chicken breast,
grow firm as they cook.
But tough cuts, like legs and thighs,
go through a two-stage transformation.
First, they firm up.
But then the texture transforms again.
When the legs are fully cooked,
they relax.
And that's when the bird is done.
Beautiful.
Gorgeous.
I usually can tell when the birds are done
when the legs just wiggle in the joints
a little bit like that.
It's a sign that the meat has gone
through its sort of two transformations.
But if you do want to prick 'em,
then just sort of check to make sure
that the juices are running totally clear.
Now we have to let this meat rest.
It lets juices redistribute
and it lets the meat relax.
So, for a chicken,
probably ten or 15 minutes is plenty.
And if you're worried about it getting
too cool, you can just tent it with foil
so you don't lose that crisp,
beautiful skin.
Ooh, so hot. Hot bird.
That's another reason resting is good.
Lets it cool off so you can handle it.
So there's our bird.
This, we save in our stock bag.
Or if you're me, my favorite part
is the little private bite you have
before your friends come over for dinner.
I'll never get sick of this chicken.
It's so good.
It's just seasoned all the way throughout.
It's like, hint of tanginess,
and it's so moist.
Man, there's nothing
like a buttermilk chicken.
[cart rattling]
Every time I go to the store,
there are a few things I always get,
no matter what I plan to make,
because I just want to give myself options
to go down different flavor roads.
And there's no substitute
for fresh citrus.
With limes, you can go to India and Mexico
and Vietnam in your cooking.
And lemons, it's a really all-purpose way
to build acid into the food.
When it comes to choosing a lemon
or a lime,
I sorta like to just press it a little bit
and make sure that it feels soft.
There's some give, and that's how you know
there's juice in there.
[plastic rips]
The easiest dollar that you can spend
to really make the biggest difference
in your home cooking
is a bunch of herbs.
So, if I know I want to make Thai food,
I buy basil and cilantro.
If I know I want to make Italian food,
I buy parsley and rosemary and sage.
You want everything to feel vibrant.
If you really want to make them last,
you can trim the ends a little bit
and stick 'em in a glass of water
in the fridge.
Take care of your herbs,
and they'll last a whole week.
So as much as there is to be said
about all of the amazing local produce
that comes throughout the year,
I'm all about the stalwarts
that are really available year-round.
If we can get comfortable cooking things
like broccoli and cauliflower
and spinach and carrots,
that's really a great foundation
for being a good cook.
You can make anything taste good
if you can make everyday vegetables
taste good.
Looking down at the base of the stem
is really a good clue for knowing
when the thing was harvested,
how many days ago.
By the time this starts to turn yellow
and get brown,
it's really not that fresh.
And for things like broccoli
and cauliflower and spinach
and most of the green vegetables
that we eat, freshness is sweetness.
And that sweetness
is what makes it so delicious.
[plastic bag rustles]
[match scrapes, sizzling]
[Samin] Before you even start cooking,
an important choice to make
is whether to use intense or gentle heat.
Intense heat is used to brown food.
It gives us crisp surfaces
and tender interiors.
Gentle heat uses time and liquid
to transform dry, tough ingredients
into tender, juicy ones.
[indistinct chatter]
[faucet running]
[knocking]
[laughs excitedly]
-Hi!
-Hi! Mwah!
-[Samin continues laughing]
-[woman] Hey, dear.
-I love you!
-I love you.
-Thanks for coming over.
-Oh, my God!
It's been a while
since we've been drawing and cooking.
It has been.
I'm excited to get back to it.
[Samin] I tried to choose things
that are pretty to draw.
-So I got those guys.
-Gorgeous.
As you know, I was not really cooking
very much before we met, so...
-Yeah.
-Like, at all.
I remember the first time
I came to your house.
-This beautiful kitchen.
-[both laugh]
And then I open the cupboard
to look for some salt,
and it was just like 20 boxes
of protein bars!
[both laugh]
I was like, "You know we just signed on
to write a huge cookbook together."
I was like, "I didn't mention that
I didn't cook at all?"
-That's changed. You've changed my life.
-[Samin] That's pretty good.
So, I got a bunch of veggies.
I figured we could do
some roasting lessons,
make some beans,
and make a big beautiful salad
with beans and veggies and herbs on top.
[pot scrapes]
Put a little bay in there,
put a little salt in there.
-I soaked these overnight.
-[stove sparking]
It's gonna take a long time for the water
to penetrate all the way inside
-and get them all evenly moist and cooked.
-Uh-huh.
[Samin] So if they can spend that time
absorbing water and growing into this,
that's gonna cut down their cooking time
and make them cook so much more evenly.
I don't love boiling beans really hard.
I don't like boiling most things
really hard 'cause it cooks it unevenly.
The outside will shrivel or break or tear,
and the inside sort of stays tough, so...
Simmering is so much more gentle.
It allows it to cook a lot more evenly.
-Okay.
-So, we just let those guys go.
[bubbling]
So,
I'm gonna roast these brussels sprouts.
I'm just gonna salt and oil these guys.
-[soft rattling]
-[metallic clanking]
A lot of times,
people just drizzle oil on top,
but you want the oil
between the food and the pan.
And that's how you get
that crisp bottom edge.
What freaks me out is when people pack
so many onto a pan
that there's no room for steam to escape,
and that's when you get
steamed brussels sprouts.
The other mistake I see a lot
of home cooks making
is they're like, "I'm in a hurry.
Let me just mix all my things on one tray
and throw it in the oven."
And when you do that,
you know, you're combining things
with all these different characteristics,
different amounts of sugar
or different amounts of water.
I say, use as many pans
as you have vegetables.
And if that's too many pans,
then at least split it half and half
so that you can remove the broccoli
or the butternut squash
before the other thing burns.
[fast-paced song playing]
[rattling]
You also want to make sure
everything is in contact with the pan.
It's just like if you're sautéing.
The browning that happens on top
is air browning.
The browning that happens on the bottom
comes from conduction.
That's what makes it so delicious,
is all of that yummy browning.
Browning is a result
of an incredible transformation
known as the Maillard reaction.
High heat reorganizes
aromatic compounds in our food
and produces deep, savory flavors
that don't exist in the pale versions.
Think of the difference
between bread and toast.
Or raw tuna and seared.
The brown version is much richer
and more complex in flavor.
All right. These are getting somewhere.
But, you know,
they're just not nearly brown enough.
So that's what I'm always looking for,
is soft in the middle
-and crispy on the outside.
-[Wendy blowing rapidly]
[munching] Mm-hmm.
-[Samin] So maybe I'll turn the oven up.
-Crank it.
Can you see? The skins just start to peel.
That's a good sign that they're done,
when they start splitting just like that.
[Wendy] It's crazy how we have
step one, step two, step three,
-and they keep getting bigger and bigger.
-Bigger and bigger.
All right, let's taste them and see
if they're fully done.
-Mm, so good.
-They're so creamy.
So good.
When they're creamy all the way through,
that's how you know they're done.
Oh, beautiful.
[Wendy] Hmm.
-Those look perfect.
-[Samin] Yeah.
Beautiful.
Let's check on these guys.
A few more minutes on those
till the corners are tender.
♪ We're almost ready to make our salad ♪
-♪ Good 'cause I'm getting really hungry ♪
-♪ Hungry ♪
[both laugh]
[Samin] This vinaigrette is super simple.
It's just shallots that are soaked
in red wine vinegar and olive oil.
These beans are really creamy and starchy,
and we have a lot of sweet stuff.
So having high acid vinaigrette here
is not a problem.
We'll taste it over and over again
as we build the salad.
Hmm. [coughs]
Acidic. Really good.
-Yeah? But, like, In a good way? Yeah.
-Yeah.
[spoon scratching]
This is za'atar.
It's a mixture of a wild kind of thyme,
sesame seeds, and sumac.
In certain parts of the Middle East,
there's no such thing as too much za'atar.
-Brown as can be. Be careful, it's hot.
-[Wendy] Oh! So perfect.
It's really nice and easy to tell
that they're done
because those cores were gonna be
the part that takes the longest. And...
-it's like butter. They're so soft.
-They're like butter.
[Samin] So, we can assemble our thing.
I might add a little spoonful
of the bean juice.
Let's taste it to make sure it's right.
That's the thing,
you have to taste every single part.
The cauliflower is right.
The brussels sprouts are right.
The carrots are right.
-The beans are right.
-I don't know if these are.
You gotta have one more.
[both laugh]
[Samin] Staying
in that Middle Eastern region,
we can crumble
a little creamy feta cheese on top.
You know, this is, like, salty,
fatty, acidic.
And a huge pile of herbs. All of my mom.
And then, because I'm me,
we can put some Maldon salt on top, too.
-[Wendy] Yes.
-So you get that crunch.
-Can we taste it?
-Let's do it. Yeah. Let me get forks.
[crunches]
-So good.
-I love you so much.
-[laughs] It's so good.
-Oh, my God.
[Samin] People always treat meat
and expensive ingredients
as the most luxurious foods,
but someone who took the time to cook
three different vegetables,
a pot of beans, and pick
a whole bunch of herbs and make this?
That's, like, true decadence.
Oh, my God. Amazing.
Mmm!
[both groan and laugh]
[children playing in distance]
[Samin] It can be so overwhelming
when you get to the salt section,
and there's, like,
40 different kinds of salt.
There's iodized salt,
there's sea salt flakes,
there's kosher salt.
You know, three different brands.
And it just seems like,
how do you even make a choice?
And why is some of it $12
and some of it's one dollar?
The most important thing is,
when you're adding salt to your food,
it should just taste clean.
In general, I discourage folks
from buying iodized salt
because it makes your food taste metallic.
I really love this brand,
because the flakes are rolled,
and so they end up being flat.
And that means, when you're salting
a chicken or a piece of meat,
that the salt can stick.
And it also is lighter,
so it dissolves into your food
more readily.
When it comes to the fancier salts,
the stuff I call finishing salt,
you know, it's really about texture,
ultimately, for me.
I love this one, the Maldon salt,
because it has
this exquisite pyramid shape
that just flakes and, like, crunches
on the tongue.
But the kind of interesting thing
is that, even between two kosher salts,
there's so much variance.
All salts are not created equal.
Morton's Kosher Salt is denser
than Diamond Crystal.
Just one teaspoon of Morton's
is nearly as salty as two teaspoons
of Diamond Crystal.
So when you're following a recipe,
and it says "add a teaspoon of salt,"
your food will taste completely different
depending on which salt you use.
The most important thing you can do
is know your own salt.
Whatever it is,
just get to know what you're using
and what you're cooking with.
[birds chirping]
This idea that a delicious meal has to be
eaten around a stuffy dinner table
is just not my philosophy.
You don't have to be some fancy chef
to be doing that with your friends.
You know, everyone can have something
to teach. Everyone can learn something.
[woman] Sorry, we just saw
your mom walk behind you.
[both laugh]
[Samin] I wanted my mom
to come make tahdig with us
because it's my favorite, favorite thing
from growing up.
What's tahdig, Maman? What is it?
It's the crusty rice
at the bottom of the pot.
It doesn't sound like much,
but it tastes good,
and everybody fights over it.
So people usually cook extra rice
-because they want extra tahdig.
-[Samin] Extra tahdig.
There's so many stories about tahdig.
There's so much lore.
Like, new wives are judged
on their tahdig.
-Yes.
-[both] Tahdig test.
It's the first test
before the give-birth-to-a-child test.
-Perhaps it was for some families, yes.
-[laughs]
So the reason I wanted to make tahdig
was because it's such a good lesson
-in using two different kinds of heat.
-Mm-hmm.
[Samin] First, we have to boil the rice
to get it partially cooked
and get enough water in there
to steam it the rest of the way.
And then we fry the rice
to get the crust.
And so, you get two amazing textures
in one dish.
This is some rice that I soaked for you.
The reason you want to soak it
is so that it can start to absorb
some of the water,
and it'll cook more evenly.
-That's true.
-Yeah.
[mother]
So we'll now drain the starchy water.
So we can probably just...
bring the whole thing over here.
And then we can argue
about how salty the water is. [laughs]
We have to taste it and see
if it is salty like the sea water.
-[Samin] That's nice and salty.
-We can put a little bit more.
[Samin] Oh, wow!
This is mind-boggling to me. [laughs]
Because my understanding of your cooking
is that you never use enough salt.
[laughs] Thank you... for clearing that.
[clanks]
[Samin] This is saffron you gave me.
Anytime somebody sees how much saffron
I have in my pantry,
they're like, "You know that's
like $3,000 worth of saffron?"
-[mother] It's okay. Let's use this.
-[Samin] Yeah. It's good to use it.
Using a lot of it
is a sign of generosity.
[mother] That's enough.
[scraping]
[mother] We're trying
to get a lot of aroma
and color out of this saffron
because we're going to use it
for decoration later.
[bubbling]
[Samin] So, how do I know
how long to cook the rice?
[mother] You have to test it
between the two fingers,
the thumb and forefinger.
And you want the thing
to smear completely.
Not completely. You still feel the grain.
You have to do the right thing with rice
or it's not gonna do the right thing
with you. [laughs]
[Samin] Let's taste it for the salt.
-You think it's good?
-I think it could use some more salt.
-And you do, too?
-I think so, too.
This might be the first time
we've ever agreed.
[both laugh]
-Let's keep it that way.
-[Samin] Okay. Okay.
In order to make tahdig the right way,
using fancy pots and pans, cast iron,
and this, like, French stuff doesn't work.
Every maman in Iran...
has a pot from TJ Maxx.
-From TJ Maxx? Except for me.
-[both laugh]
-Mine is from Marshalls.
-Okay.
[both laugh]
[Samin] What do you put in here
to get the tahdig started?
[mother] Some kind of oil
that doesn't burn easily.
-[Samin] So like canola oil?
-Canola oil is good.
[Samin] How do you know it's warm enough?
[mother] It starts to sizzle or something.
I'm gonna put some saffron in.
[mother] The saffron is gonna start
giving some color and taste and smell
to the tahdig.
We try to make it into a heap,
then the steam is gonna
come from around it,
and it's gonna be easier to cook.
And then, this is my favorite part...
you gotta poke the holes
all the way down to the bottom.
-[mother] We let the steam come up.
-[lid clangs]
So it's really just
such a mild little sizzle in there.
-Yes.
-It's not very strong.
-Not at all.
-I've been doing this wrong my whole life.
You're not frying it.
You're just making a good, crusty tahdig.
Okay.
[sizzling]
This is one of my favorite tricks
that I don't see a lot in other cultures,
but will you show us
how you wrap the lid?
[mother] Because the rice is steaming,
we don't want the steam
to go to the bottom of the pot
and make the tahdig soggy.
We are gonna wrap the lid in a towel
to capture more steam.
'Cause we don't want steamed rice.
[Samin] So now when the steam goes up--
[mother] It goes up and gets caught
between the towel and the lid.
[Samin] There's some butter.
Here's a little pot.
[knife clangs]
[mother] I'm gonna coat
the sides of the pot
so that the butter is gonna keep the rice
from sticking to the sides of the pot.
[Samin] That's really smart.
You've got a smart mother.
What did you think?
[Samin laughs]
[sloshing]
[mother] Steam's coming up.
We test again.
-It's dry enough.
-[Samin] Yeah.
-And it's almost cooked.
-It tastes good.
[mother] So you go
with melted butter all around.
[Samin] And the butter's for flavor?
[mother] And also browning
the bottom of the pot.
[Samin] You didn't add it
in the beginning.
[mother] Because it burns.
You don't want to burn your tahdig.
You want... You want to brown it.
[mother] Coloring the rice with saffron.
[Samin] Wow, so beautiful.
Hmm! Magic.
-Oh, you're putting that back? What?
-Yes.
-[Samin] Why are you doing that?
-Because this needs to be--
-[Samin] Steamed a bit?
-Yeah.
You don't want the separate taste
of saffron and rice.
You want them combined.
[Samin] All right,
we're getting close to the end.
[mother] I'm taking
the saffron and rice out of the pot
because I need to shake the pot
to make sure that the tahdig
is not stuck to the bottom.
-[Samin] Are you listening for the jiggle?
-[mother] You can feel it.
[wet rattle]
-[mother] Smells good.
-Smells so good.
[mother] Buttery and saffron-y.
You're self-complimenting?
-[laughs] I'm hungry.
-[spoon tapping]
-[rattling]
-[Samin] See how it's a whole cake?
It's ready to come out.
[mother] You know it is ready.
-[laughs]
-Yeah.
[Samin] Okay, here we go.
Oh, I broke it!
It's okay.
-[Samin] Push it back together, Mom.
-Hmm.
That's okay,
this means I get to eat this part.
It smells so good.
I don't care about how it looks.
[Samin laughs]
[mother] They say the potter always drinks
out of a broken pot.
Oh, right.
-I'm just eating the broken rice.
-Right.
This is the broken pot.
[Samin] You want a little piece
of tahdig, Maman?
[mother] Yes, but just a little bit
from the corner.
[crunch]
[blowing]
[crunches]
-Very good.
-Good.
I like it too.
[Samin] The saffron is so fragrant.
[mother] Bring back old times.
It's so good, Mom.
[in Farsi] Bon appétit.
[in English]
It's been a long time since I had this.
[mother] Maybe a little bit
of fried egg wouldn't hurt.
[Samin laughs]
[bell door dings]
-Hola. We're here.
-[Samin] Hello!
-Oh, my God!
-Oh, hi!
-Everything smells so good.
-[Samin] Oh, thank you.
Guys, I'm gonna put you straight to work,
so do you want a glass of wine first?
-Yes, please!
-[woman] All right.
[all laugh]
[Samin] So here's my thing.
When you've spent all this time
making a dinner,
why not involve your guests?
[guest] I brought an apron, too.
Should I put it on?
[Samin] I love how people know
to bring an apron
when they come over to my place.
I think a big part of what keeps people
out of the kitchen
is they feel like they have no agency,
no power, no knowledge.
And so,
there's a way where if they're involved
in just a tiny bit of the process,
they take away that knowledge,
and they feel empowered.
-Hi, everyone.
-This is my mom!
[all cheering and laughing]
Nice to meet you.
-How has been everywhere?
-[guest] Portugal--
[Samin] I love including people.
I want to get them
to have that sensory experience
that is really what cooking
is all about for me.
I want them to get their hands
in the bowl and toss the salad
so they feel what
a properly dressed lettuce feels like.
I want them to have the experience
of tasting a sauce a few times
and adjusting it with salt
or maybe a little bit more vinegar.
You know,
if you're part of just mixing the thing
with a little olive oil and vinegar
and salt, and it's delicious at the table,
you go away
with more than just a delicious dinner.
You go away thinking,
"Oh, I can do that."
-One, two, three.
-[whoops]
Oh, God, you guys were scared.
[everyone cheering, whooping]
Yes!
[laughing, indistinct chattering]
[Samin] For me,
cooking has never been about the food.
It's about what happens at the table.
Making good food accessible
is really important to me.
And any little way that I can do that,
from inviting a bunch of friends over
for a simple meal
to making them help out in the kitchen
when they arrive,
just helps make it feel like good cooking
is within reach for everyone.
My ultimate goal is to make people
feel comfortable and taken care of
so that they can just enjoy the moment
and maybe, eventually,
pass that kindness on to others.
Cooking for them, with them,
just happens to be the easiest way
I can do that.
[in Japanese] Thanks for the food.
[indistinct chatter, laughing]
[conversation in Italian]
[in Italian] The beautiful sage
from our own garden.
-[woman, in English] They're so good.
-Buonissimo.
-[chattering]
-[glasses clink]
[Samin] Anyone can learn to cook
and do it well.
Be thoughtful. Be curious.
And use salt, fat, acid, and heat
to guide you to delicious food.
And if for some reason
a dish doesn't turn out well, it's okay.
You can always try again tomorrow.
["Like This, Like That"
by The California Honeydrops playing]
♪ Be glad you woke up
Be glad you broke up ♪
♪ Be glad you don't know
What happens next ♪
♪ Be glad you're walking
Be glad you're talking ♪
♪ 'Cause who knows just
What might happen there ♪
♪ You don't have to be
Like this or like that ♪
♪ You don't have to be
Any particular way, you see? ♪
♪ Don't have to run every time
When we can get to feeling fine ♪
♪ But if you do, oh
Schubi-di-du... ♪
[Samin] Heat.
It's the element of transformation.
-[sizzling]
-Heat takes food from raw to cooked.
Flabby to firm.
Pale to golden brown.
-[loud sizzling]
-Sizzles,
splatters,
crackles,
steam,
-and aromas...
-[sniffing]
are all the results of applying heat
to food.
And once you understand how heat works,
you can be confident
that whatever you cook will taste great.
[toaster pops, dings]
[violin music playing]
[door hinge creaks]
-[seagulls squawk]
-[door clicks]
["Like This, Like That"
by The California Honeydrops playing]
I've traveled the world to explore
the elements that define good cooking.
But in the end, I had to come home.
♪ Be glad you woke up
Be glad you broke up ♪
[Samin] Because this
is where my cooking career began,
at Chez Panisse,
the iconic restaurant
that pioneered cooking
with local seasonal ingredients.
♪ Who knows
Just what might happen there? ♪
♪ Be glad you woke up ♪
-[Samin] Hi. How are you?
-[chef] Hi.
-Good, how are you?
-Good.
♪ Be glad you're walking ♪
[Samin] At first,
the kitchen intimidated me.
The numbers on the oven dials
had worn away,
and people cooked in a giant hearth
over an open fire.
That just seemed crazy.
It took me some time to learn
to pay attention to the food
and not the fire,
and to use my senses
to look, listen, smell, taste...
to master the final element
in good cooking: heat.
♪ Be glad you're talking ♪
♪ 'Cause who knows just
What might happen there? ♪
[Samin] We gonna grill some steaks?
-[chef] Let's.
-[Samin] Okay.
-[wood crackling]
-[soft piano music playing]
[chef] All right.
[Samin] Some of my earliest memories
are watching you grill steaks.
And there's just such an elegant way
that you have of cooking,
and it's so quiet and calm,
that I've always aspired to that.
I am not quiet or calm.
[both laugh]
[Samin] I just want to point out
that this is Amy Dencler,
head chef of Chez Panisse.
And her paring knife is a buck knife.
[both laugh]
[Amy] I like the shape of the blade,
and that's why I bought it
maybe 30 years ago.
-It's definitely a relic, for sure.
-[laughs]
[crackling]
-Oh, sounds like it's getting there!
-Oh, yeah.
[both laugh]
[Samin] One of the most important things
to building a fire
is you want to have
different heat zones.
Amy has this kind of ingenious thing
where she puts new coals in in the back,
and as they burn down,
she pulls them toward the front.
Usually I have a little cooler
on the right and hotter on the left.
Sometimes you don't want
whatever you're grilling
to be really close to the back of the fire
where it's extra smokey.
[sizzling]
[Samin] Just like when you have a stove
and you can turn it up or down,
you want to give yourself those options
over the grill, too.
When you watch a commercial for a grill,
they're all about the grill marks
and the perfect 90-degree crosshatches.
Those people are missing out on flavor,
'cause browning is flavor.
If you take one thing away
from this magical woman's grilling lesson,
it's stop cooking your food
directly over flame,
and make yourself a couple different zones
to be moving over.
-This is the most un-Chez Panisse oiling--
-[Amy] Technique?
-[Samin] Yeah.
-[both laugh]
[Amy] We're going for medium rare.
Most of the heat is in the back,
so I'm turning the steaks
towards the heat,
-so they're cooking evenly.
-[sizzling]
I'm gonna cook them most of the way
on this one side,
and then turn them.
[Samin] Do it, girl.
Even if you don't have a grill at home,
you can use the same information
to do it the same way on a stove in a pan.
You want to cook it more than halfway
on the first side,
and then let it cook through
to medium rare, whatever you like,
on the second side.
So the first two are done,
and it's really just a feel thing.
This is still so soft and tender,
but it has a little bit of resistance.
It's not just mushy.
It doesn't feel
like the inside of my cheek.
Do I have to... taste a little?
-Yes.
-[laughs]
What do you think?
[Samin] It's so good.
[Amy] Did you put salt--?
[Samin] A little salt in the parsley,
but let's taste it.
Here, I'll put it on a potato for you.
Tastes good.
-Okay.
-I love it.
-Let me get some forks.
-[both chuckle]
[both laughing]
Mm.
-Pretty good.
-Pretty delicious.
[Samin] The browning is just so perfect
and so even on the whole thing.
That's Ms. Amy Dencler for you.
[birds chirping]
[indistinct chatter]
[Samin] One of the valuable lessons
I learned at Chez Panisse
was that you don't have to use
expensive ingredients to make good food.
All you need to find
are simple quality staples
and to treat them with respect.
So knowing what to look for
is the first step
on your way to a good meal.
[machine whirrs]
What can we do for you today?
Wow. Well, I sort of just wanted to talk
about the different cuts of meat.
-Okay.
-I'm so curious.
Like, how would you describe
what fat does for a steak?
[butcher] I mean, a lot of people
are turned off by fat.
Fat is not necessarily
a bad thing at all.
It provides flavor for what you're doing.
[Samin] Can we look at a few kinds
-of rib eyes to compare the fat?
-Definitely.
We're gonna start with the First Light.
This is the 100% grass-fed grass-finished.
When looking for a steak
at a grocery store,
look for the speckled marbling.
If you see this
in just about any cut of meat,
you can tell you're gonna have
a good eating experience.
-It's gonna be tender.
-[butcher] Exactly.
And this is where all the flavor's
gonna come from, the fat on the inside.
Marbling's the name
for this fat here, right?
-Yes.
-This is a different kind of fat.
[butcher] That's just the cap off the top
of the whole rib.
That's the stuff that, like, cooks up
into a lump on your mouth
that you'll, like, end up chewing
and throwing out anyway, right?
Exactly. And we don't want to do that.
We want to provide enough fat
to where you get the flavor,
it helps with the cooking process,
but you're not gnawing away
on a big chunk of fat.
So we can take a look
at this New York here,
and you can see
this is a bit thicker than the marbling
that we were seeing in the grass-fed beef.
So that's what I'm looking for
when I'm buying a steak?
-The most marbling?
-[butcher] That's what I recommend.
You want to shop with your eyes.
If something doesn't look good,
it's probably not gonna taste that good.
[Samin] So say, like, that brisket.
The quality of this fat is not the same
as the quality of the fat in the steak.
No. For the most part,
the marbling that you see in a steak
will virtually melt away when you cook it.
To where this fat cap on here,
it's gonna be there when it's done.
But if you cook your brisket properly,
this fat is gonna soak through the meat
while it's cooking,
which is gonna create more flavor.
You're probably gonna get a tender
end result because of it.
And it's gonna help keep it moist.
I mean, brisket fat is so delicious.
I love it so much, so... [laughs]
The top restaurants that do burgers
are doing a blend.
And they'll mix in brisket,
short rib, a little bit of chuck,
and you've got the best burger.
-'Cause there's flavor and fat.
-[butcher] Exactly. Exactly.
[fire crackling]
[Samin] It doesn't matter
whether you're cooking
over a stove, an open fire,
or in a slow cooker.
The goal is always the same.
Apply the right level of heat
so that the surface of your food
and its interior
are done cooking at the same time.
-[bird chirps]
-[calming music playing]
[Samin] So,
any time I'm planning a dinner,
I choose one element
to really be the way I build the menu.
Since I'm making chicken,
that's the anchor.
So I'm choosing ingredients and dishes
that will complement it and be really nice
next to it on the table.
So I think I'm gonna make a big salad
with roasted vegetables and beans.
And then my mom is coming over. O-M-G.
And... [laughs]
Uh, I'm gonna have her instruct me
once and for all
in how to make the perfect tahdig,
which is the Persian rice
with the perfect crust.
And there's a great lesson in there
about using the different methods of heat
to get the perfect texture that we want.
Chicken. It's really not cool to say,
but it's my favorite.
Favorite meat.
[rustling]
If there were a single recipe
to really sum up the lessons
of Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat,
it would be this buttermilk-marinated
roast chicken.
The buttermilk provides both fat and acid
that really tenderizes the meat
and then, of course, heat.
Using the right amount of heat
to get that bird beautifully browned
on the outside
and nice and moist on the inside.
The buttermilk expands
your margin for error.
If you forget it and overcook it
for five or ten minutes,
the buttermilk is insurance,
and it's the most delicious kind
of insurance.
If you've never roasted a chicken,
this is the perfect place to start.
People often think
that cooking really starts
the moment you turn the oven on,
but in reality, it starts a lot earlier.
We got some chickens in buttermilk
with salt that we did yesterday.
You have to bring meat up
to room temperature.
You have to pull it out from the fridge
and let it sit on the counter
for an hour or longer,
depending on the size.
When you go straight from the fridge
into the oven, it will never cook evenly.
The skin of the chicken will rip,
the outside will get burnt and overly dry
before the inside can even cook.
That's why a lot of Thanksgiving turkeys
come out raw.
So the oven's nice and hot.
It's about 425,
but the precise temperature
doesn't really matter that much.
The back of the oven
is where all the heat really is,
because every time you open the oven,
all of the heat escapes out the front.
So, the front will always be cooler,
and the back will always be hotter.
So, if we put the chickens with the legs
facing toward the back,
the whole bird will cook more evenly
because legs always need
a longer time than the breasts to cook.
We have been trained to believe
that oven cooking is so precise
'cause you turn a dial and you set it
and you don't have to think about it.
But that actually couldn't be further
from the truth.
The oven is a surprisingly imprecise
form of heat...
because it works on a thermostat.
And just like your house,
when you set that thermostat,
it doesn't stop climbing
when it reaches that temperature.
It goes way past it.
Sometimes, it can go 30 degrees,
depending on what oven you have.
So, you have to use your senses.
You open it, you check, you look,
you smell, you touch.
These are all the cues
that help you figure out how to cook.
[oven closes]
Since they're browning totally unevenly,
the outsides are browning
and the insides are not,
I'm just gonna move them around.
So now they'll have a chance
to brown evenly on both sides,
but the legs can still be
toward the back of the oven.
[sighs] Okay.
Meat goes through a transformation
as it cooks.
[cranks]
Tender cuts of meat, like chicken breast,
grow firm as they cook.
But tough cuts, like legs and thighs,
go through a two-stage transformation.
First, they firm up.
But then the texture transforms again.
When the legs are fully cooked,
they relax.
And that's when the bird is done.
Beautiful.
Gorgeous.
I usually can tell when the birds are done
when the legs just wiggle in the joints
a little bit like that.
It's a sign that the meat has gone
through its sort of two transformations.
But if you do want to prick 'em,
then just sort of check to make sure
that the juices are running totally clear.
Now we have to let this meat rest.
It lets juices redistribute
and it lets the meat relax.
So, for a chicken,
probably ten or 15 minutes is plenty.
And if you're worried about it getting
too cool, you can just tent it with foil
so you don't lose that crisp,
beautiful skin.
Ooh, so hot. Hot bird.
That's another reason resting is good.
Lets it cool off so you can handle it.
So there's our bird.
This, we save in our stock bag.
Or if you're me, my favorite part
is the little private bite you have
before your friends come over for dinner.
I'll never get sick of this chicken.
It's so good.
It's just seasoned all the way throughout.
It's like, hint of tanginess,
and it's so moist.
Man, there's nothing
like a buttermilk chicken.
[cart rattling]
Every time I go to the store,
there are a few things I always get,
no matter what I plan to make,
because I just want to give myself options
to go down different flavor roads.
And there's no substitute
for fresh citrus.
With limes, you can go to India and Mexico
and Vietnam in your cooking.
And lemons, it's a really all-purpose way
to build acid into the food.
When it comes to choosing a lemon
or a lime,
I sorta like to just press it a little bit
and make sure that it feels soft.
There's some give, and that's how you know
there's juice in there.
[plastic rips]
The easiest dollar that you can spend
to really make the biggest difference
in your home cooking
is a bunch of herbs.
So, if I know I want to make Thai food,
I buy basil and cilantro.
If I know I want to make Italian food,
I buy parsley and rosemary and sage.
You want everything to feel vibrant.
If you really want to make them last,
you can trim the ends a little bit
and stick 'em in a glass of water
in the fridge.
Take care of your herbs,
and they'll last a whole week.
So as much as there is to be said
about all of the amazing local produce
that comes throughout the year,
I'm all about the stalwarts
that are really available year-round.
If we can get comfortable cooking things
like broccoli and cauliflower
and spinach and carrots,
that's really a great foundation
for being a good cook.
You can make anything taste good
if you can make everyday vegetables
taste good.
Looking down at the base of the stem
is really a good clue for knowing
when the thing was harvested,
how many days ago.
By the time this starts to turn yellow
and get brown,
it's really not that fresh.
And for things like broccoli
and cauliflower and spinach
and most of the green vegetables
that we eat, freshness is sweetness.
And that sweetness
is what makes it so delicious.
[plastic bag rustles]
[match scrapes, sizzling]
[Samin] Before you even start cooking,
an important choice to make
is whether to use intense or gentle heat.
Intense heat is used to brown food.
It gives us crisp surfaces
and tender interiors.
Gentle heat uses time and liquid
to transform dry, tough ingredients
into tender, juicy ones.
[indistinct chatter]
[faucet running]
[knocking]
[laughs excitedly]
-Hi!
-Hi! Mwah!
-[Samin continues laughing]
-[woman] Hey, dear.
-I love you!
-I love you.
-Thanks for coming over.
-Oh, my God!
It's been a while
since we've been drawing and cooking.
It has been.
I'm excited to get back to it.
[Samin] I tried to choose things
that are pretty to draw.
-So I got those guys.
-Gorgeous.
As you know, I was not really cooking
very much before we met, so...
-Yeah.
-Like, at all.
I remember the first time
I came to your house.
-This beautiful kitchen.
-[both laugh]
And then I open the cupboard
to look for some salt,
and it was just like 20 boxes
of protein bars!
[both laugh]
I was like, "You know we just signed on
to write a huge cookbook together."
I was like, "I didn't mention that
I didn't cook at all?"
-That's changed. You've changed my life.
-[Samin] That's pretty good.
So, I got a bunch of veggies.
I figured we could do
some roasting lessons,
make some beans,
and make a big beautiful salad
with beans and veggies and herbs on top.
[pot scrapes]
Put a little bay in there,
put a little salt in there.
-I soaked these overnight.
-[stove sparking]
It's gonna take a long time for the water
to penetrate all the way inside
-and get them all evenly moist and cooked.
-Uh-huh.
[Samin] So if they can spend that time
absorbing water and growing into this,
that's gonna cut down their cooking time
and make them cook so much more evenly.
I don't love boiling beans really hard.
I don't like boiling most things
really hard 'cause it cooks it unevenly.
The outside will shrivel or break or tear,
and the inside sort of stays tough, so...
Simmering is so much more gentle.
It allows it to cook a lot more evenly.
-Okay.
-So, we just let those guys go.
[bubbling]
So,
I'm gonna roast these brussels sprouts.
I'm just gonna salt and oil these guys.
-[soft rattling]
-[metallic clanking]
A lot of times,
people just drizzle oil on top,
but you want the oil
between the food and the pan.
And that's how you get
that crisp bottom edge.
What freaks me out is when people pack
so many onto a pan
that there's no room for steam to escape,
and that's when you get
steamed brussels sprouts.
The other mistake I see a lot
of home cooks making
is they're like, "I'm in a hurry.
Let me just mix all my things on one tray
and throw it in the oven."
And when you do that,
you know, you're combining things
with all these different characteristics,
different amounts of sugar
or different amounts of water.
I say, use as many pans
as you have vegetables.
And if that's too many pans,
then at least split it half and half
so that you can remove the broccoli
or the butternut squash
before the other thing burns.
[fast-paced song playing]
[rattling]
You also want to make sure
everything is in contact with the pan.
It's just like if you're sautéing.
The browning that happens on top
is air browning.
The browning that happens on the bottom
comes from conduction.
That's what makes it so delicious,
is all of that yummy browning.
Browning is a result
of an incredible transformation
known as the Maillard reaction.
High heat reorganizes
aromatic compounds in our food
and produces deep, savory flavors
that don't exist in the pale versions.
Think of the difference
between bread and toast.
Or raw tuna and seared.
The brown version is much richer
and more complex in flavor.
All right. These are getting somewhere.
But, you know,
they're just not nearly brown enough.
So that's what I'm always looking for,
is soft in the middle
-and crispy on the outside.
-[Wendy blowing rapidly]
[munching] Mm-hmm.
-[Samin] So maybe I'll turn the oven up.
-Crank it.
Can you see? The skins just start to peel.
That's a good sign that they're done,
when they start splitting just like that.
[Wendy] It's crazy how we have
step one, step two, step three,
-and they keep getting bigger and bigger.
-Bigger and bigger.
All right, let's taste them and see
if they're fully done.
-Mm, so good.
-They're so creamy.
So good.
When they're creamy all the way through,
that's how you know they're done.
Oh, beautiful.
[Wendy] Hmm.
-Those look perfect.
-[Samin] Yeah.
Beautiful.
Let's check on these guys.
A few more minutes on those
till the corners are tender.
♪ We're almost ready to make our salad ♪
-♪ Good 'cause I'm getting really hungry ♪
-♪ Hungry ♪
[both laugh]
[Samin] This vinaigrette is super simple.
It's just shallots that are soaked
in red wine vinegar and olive oil.
These beans are really creamy and starchy,
and we have a lot of sweet stuff.
So having high acid vinaigrette here
is not a problem.
We'll taste it over and over again
as we build the salad.
Hmm. [coughs]
Acidic. Really good.
-Yeah? But, like, In a good way? Yeah.
-Yeah.
[spoon scratching]
This is za'atar.
It's a mixture of a wild kind of thyme,
sesame seeds, and sumac.
In certain parts of the Middle East,
there's no such thing as too much za'atar.
-Brown as can be. Be careful, it's hot.
-[Wendy] Oh! So perfect.
It's really nice and easy to tell
that they're done
because those cores were gonna be
the part that takes the longest. And...
-it's like butter. They're so soft.
-They're like butter.
[Samin] So, we can assemble our thing.
I might add a little spoonful
of the bean juice.
Let's taste it to make sure it's right.
That's the thing,
you have to taste every single part.
The cauliflower is right.
The brussels sprouts are right.
The carrots are right.
-The beans are right.
-I don't know if these are.
You gotta have one more.
[both laugh]
[Samin] Staying
in that Middle Eastern region,
we can crumble
a little creamy feta cheese on top.
You know, this is, like, salty,
fatty, acidic.
And a huge pile of herbs. All of my mom.
And then, because I'm me,
we can put some Maldon salt on top, too.
-[Wendy] Yes.
-So you get that crunch.
-Can we taste it?
-Let's do it. Yeah. Let me get forks.
[crunches]
-So good.
-I love you so much.
-[laughs] It's so good.
-Oh, my God.
[Samin] People always treat meat
and expensive ingredients
as the most luxurious foods,
but someone who took the time to cook
three different vegetables,
a pot of beans, and pick
a whole bunch of herbs and make this?
That's, like, true decadence.
Oh, my God. Amazing.
Mmm!
[both groan and laugh]
[children playing in distance]
[Samin] It can be so overwhelming
when you get to the salt section,
and there's, like,
40 different kinds of salt.
There's iodized salt,
there's sea salt flakes,
there's kosher salt.
You know, three different brands.
And it just seems like,
how do you even make a choice?
And why is some of it $12
and some of it's one dollar?
The most important thing is,
when you're adding salt to your food,
it should just taste clean.
In general, I discourage folks
from buying iodized salt
because it makes your food taste metallic.
I really love this brand,
because the flakes are rolled,
and so they end up being flat.
And that means, when you're salting
a chicken or a piece of meat,
that the salt can stick.
And it also is lighter,
so it dissolves into your food
more readily.
When it comes to the fancier salts,
the stuff I call finishing salt,
you know, it's really about texture,
ultimately, for me.
I love this one, the Maldon salt,
because it has
this exquisite pyramid shape
that just flakes and, like, crunches
on the tongue.
But the kind of interesting thing
is that, even between two kosher salts,
there's so much variance.
All salts are not created equal.
Morton's Kosher Salt is denser
than Diamond Crystal.
Just one teaspoon of Morton's
is nearly as salty as two teaspoons
of Diamond Crystal.
So when you're following a recipe,
and it says "add a teaspoon of salt,"
your food will taste completely different
depending on which salt you use.
The most important thing you can do
is know your own salt.
Whatever it is,
just get to know what you're using
and what you're cooking with.
[birds chirping]
This idea that a delicious meal has to be
eaten around a stuffy dinner table
is just not my philosophy.
You don't have to be some fancy chef
to be doing that with your friends.
You know, everyone can have something
to teach. Everyone can learn something.
[woman] Sorry, we just saw
your mom walk behind you.
[both laugh]
[Samin] I wanted my mom
to come make tahdig with us
because it's my favorite, favorite thing
from growing up.
What's tahdig, Maman? What is it?
It's the crusty rice
at the bottom of the pot.
It doesn't sound like much,
but it tastes good,
and everybody fights over it.
So people usually cook extra rice
-because they want extra tahdig.
-[Samin] Extra tahdig.
There's so many stories about tahdig.
There's so much lore.
Like, new wives are judged
on their tahdig.
-Yes.
-[both] Tahdig test.
It's the first test
before the give-birth-to-a-child test.
-Perhaps it was for some families, yes.
-[laughs]
So the reason I wanted to make tahdig
was because it's such a good lesson
-in using two different kinds of heat.
-Mm-hmm.
[Samin] First, we have to boil the rice
to get it partially cooked
and get enough water in there
to steam it the rest of the way.
And then we fry the rice
to get the crust.
And so, you get two amazing textures
in one dish.
This is some rice that I soaked for you.
The reason you want to soak it
is so that it can start to absorb
some of the water,
and it'll cook more evenly.
-That's true.
-Yeah.
[mother]
So we'll now drain the starchy water.
So we can probably just...
bring the whole thing over here.
And then we can argue
about how salty the water is. [laughs]
We have to taste it and see
if it is salty like the sea water.
-[Samin] That's nice and salty.
-We can put a little bit more.
[Samin] Oh, wow!
This is mind-boggling to me. [laughs]
Because my understanding of your cooking
is that you never use enough salt.
[laughs] Thank you... for clearing that.
[clanks]
[Samin] This is saffron you gave me.
Anytime somebody sees how much saffron
I have in my pantry,
they're like, "You know that's
like $3,000 worth of saffron?"
-[mother] It's okay. Let's use this.
-[Samin] Yeah. It's good to use it.
Using a lot of it
is a sign of generosity.
[mother] That's enough.
[scraping]
[mother] We're trying
to get a lot of aroma
and color out of this saffron
because we're going to use it
for decoration later.
[bubbling]
[Samin] So, how do I know
how long to cook the rice?
[mother] You have to test it
between the two fingers,
the thumb and forefinger.
And you want the thing
to smear completely.
Not completely. You still feel the grain.
You have to do the right thing with rice
or it's not gonna do the right thing
with you. [laughs]
[Samin] Let's taste it for the salt.
-You think it's good?
-I think it could use some more salt.
-And you do, too?
-I think so, too.
This might be the first time
we've ever agreed.
[both laugh]
-Let's keep it that way.
-[Samin] Okay. Okay.
In order to make tahdig the right way,
using fancy pots and pans, cast iron,
and this, like, French stuff doesn't work.
Every maman in Iran...
has a pot from TJ Maxx.
-From TJ Maxx? Except for me.
-[both laugh]
-Mine is from Marshalls.
-Okay.
[both laugh]
[Samin] What do you put in here
to get the tahdig started?
[mother] Some kind of oil
that doesn't burn easily.
-[Samin] So like canola oil?
-Canola oil is good.
[Samin] How do you know it's warm enough?
[mother] It starts to sizzle or something.
I'm gonna put some saffron in.
[mother] The saffron is gonna start
giving some color and taste and smell
to the tahdig.
We try to make it into a heap,
then the steam is gonna
come from around it,
and it's gonna be easier to cook.
And then, this is my favorite part...
you gotta poke the holes
all the way down to the bottom.
-[mother] We let the steam come up.
-[lid clangs]
So it's really just
such a mild little sizzle in there.
-Yes.
-It's not very strong.
-Not at all.
-I've been doing this wrong my whole life.
You're not frying it.
You're just making a good, crusty tahdig.
Okay.
[sizzling]
This is one of my favorite tricks
that I don't see a lot in other cultures,
but will you show us
how you wrap the lid?
[mother] Because the rice is steaming,
we don't want the steam
to go to the bottom of the pot
and make the tahdig soggy.
We are gonna wrap the lid in a towel
to capture more steam.
'Cause we don't want steamed rice.
[Samin] So now when the steam goes up--
[mother] It goes up and gets caught
between the towel and the lid.
[Samin] There's some butter.
Here's a little pot.
[knife clangs]
[mother] I'm gonna coat
the sides of the pot
so that the butter is gonna keep the rice
from sticking to the sides of the pot.
[Samin] That's really smart.
You've got a smart mother.
What did you think?
[Samin laughs]
[sloshing]
[mother] Steam's coming up.
We test again.
-It's dry enough.
-[Samin] Yeah.
-And it's almost cooked.
-It tastes good.
[mother] So you go
with melted butter all around.
[Samin] And the butter's for flavor?
[mother] And also browning
the bottom of the pot.
[Samin] You didn't add it
in the beginning.
[mother] Because it burns.
You don't want to burn your tahdig.
You want... You want to brown it.
[mother] Coloring the rice with saffron.
[Samin] Wow, so beautiful.
Hmm! Magic.
-Oh, you're putting that back? What?
-Yes.
-[Samin] Why are you doing that?
-Because this needs to be--
-[Samin] Steamed a bit?
-Yeah.
You don't want the separate taste
of saffron and rice.
You want them combined.
[Samin] All right,
we're getting close to the end.
[mother] I'm taking
the saffron and rice out of the pot
because I need to shake the pot
to make sure that the tahdig
is not stuck to the bottom.
-[Samin] Are you listening for the jiggle?
-[mother] You can feel it.
[wet rattle]
-[mother] Smells good.
-Smells so good.
[mother] Buttery and saffron-y.
You're self-complimenting?
-[laughs] I'm hungry.
-[spoon tapping]
-[rattling]
-[Samin] See how it's a whole cake?
It's ready to come out.
[mother] You know it is ready.
-[laughs]
-Yeah.
[Samin] Okay, here we go.
Oh, I broke it!
It's okay.
-[Samin] Push it back together, Mom.
-Hmm.
That's okay,
this means I get to eat this part.
It smells so good.
I don't care about how it looks.
[Samin laughs]
[mother] They say the potter always drinks
out of a broken pot.
Oh, right.
-I'm just eating the broken rice.
-Right.
This is the broken pot.
[Samin] You want a little piece
of tahdig, Maman?
[mother] Yes, but just a little bit
from the corner.
[crunch]
[blowing]
[crunches]
-Very good.
-Good.
I like it too.
[Samin] The saffron is so fragrant.
[mother] Bring back old times.
It's so good, Mom.
[in Farsi] Bon appétit.
[in English]
It's been a long time since I had this.
[mother] Maybe a little bit
of fried egg wouldn't hurt.
[Samin laughs]
[bell door dings]
-Hola. We're here.
-[Samin] Hello!
-Oh, my God!
-Oh, hi!
-Everything smells so good.
-[Samin] Oh, thank you.
Guys, I'm gonna put you straight to work,
so do you want a glass of wine first?
-Yes, please!
-[woman] All right.
[all laugh]
[Samin] So here's my thing.
When you've spent all this time
making a dinner,
why not involve your guests?
[guest] I brought an apron, too.
Should I put it on?
[Samin] I love how people know
to bring an apron
when they come over to my place.
I think a big part of what keeps people
out of the kitchen
is they feel like they have no agency,
no power, no knowledge.
And so,
there's a way where if they're involved
in just a tiny bit of the process,
they take away that knowledge,
and they feel empowered.
-Hi, everyone.
-This is my mom!
[all cheering and laughing]
Nice to meet you.
-How has been everywhere?
-[guest] Portugal--
[Samin] I love including people.
I want to get them
to have that sensory experience
that is really what cooking
is all about for me.
I want them to get their hands
in the bowl and toss the salad
so they feel what
a properly dressed lettuce feels like.
I want them to have the experience
of tasting a sauce a few times
and adjusting it with salt
or maybe a little bit more vinegar.
You know,
if you're part of just mixing the thing
with a little olive oil and vinegar
and salt, and it's delicious at the table,
you go away
with more than just a delicious dinner.
You go away thinking,
"Oh, I can do that."
-One, two, three.
-[whoops]
Oh, God, you guys were scared.
[everyone cheering, whooping]
Yes!
[laughing, indistinct chattering]
[Samin] For me,
cooking has never been about the food.
It's about what happens at the table.
Making good food accessible
is really important to me.
And any little way that I can do that,
from inviting a bunch of friends over
for a simple meal
to making them help out in the kitchen
when they arrive,
just helps make it feel like good cooking
is within reach for everyone.
My ultimate goal is to make people
feel comfortable and taken care of
so that they can just enjoy the moment
and maybe, eventually,
pass that kindness on to others.
Cooking for them, with them,
just happens to be the easiest way
I can do that.
[in Japanese] Thanks for the food.
[indistinct chatter, laughing]
[conversation in Italian]
[in Italian] The beautiful sage
from our own garden.
-[woman, in English] They're so good.
-Buonissimo.
-[chattering]
-[glasses clink]
[Samin] Anyone can learn to cook
and do it well.
Be thoughtful. Be curious.
And use salt, fat, acid, and heat
to guide you to delicious food.
And if for some reason
a dish doesn't turn out well, it's okay.
You can always try again tomorrow.
["Like This, Like That"
by The California Honeydrops playing]
♪ Be glad you woke up
Be glad you broke up ♪
♪ Be glad you don't know
What happens next ♪
♪ Be glad you're walking
Be glad you're talking ♪
♪ 'Cause who knows just
What might happen there ♪
♪ You don't have to be
Like this or like that ♪
♪ You don't have to be
Any particular way, you see? ♪
♪ Don't have to run every time
When we can get to feeling fine ♪
♪ But if you do, oh
Schubi-di-du... ♪