Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
by Samin Nosrat · first published 2017
77% recommend22% neutral1% critical
Why HN recommends it
Teaches the principles behind good cooking (seasoning, fat, balancing flavor with acid, heat control) so you can improvise instead of follow recipes; readable and approachable for beginners and experienced home cooks.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A visionary new master class in cooking that distills decades of professional experience into just four simple elements, from the woman declared “America’s next great cooking teacher” by Alice Waters. In the tradition of The Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything comes Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, an ambitious new approach to cooking by a major new culinary voice. Chef and writer Samin Nosrat has taught everyone from professional chefs to middle school kids to author Michael Pollan to cook using her revolutionary, yet simple, philosophy. Master the use of just four elements—Salt, which enhance
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That's what I find so interesting about Samin Nosrat's "Salt Fat Acid Heat". Sure it's a list of what it takes to make food taste good, but it also happens to be a comprehensive list of what you need to stay alive. It's also why I added oranges into the list, although there's…
on “The poor can’t afford to follow public health advice” ↗Two related tips while on the subject: 1) Salt your pasta water! Pasta is meant to be cooked in salty water that, according and excellently-put by Samin Nosrat (Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat) - "is reminiscent of the sea". 2) Save and use a splash of ("dirty") pasta water - aka the water the pasta was just cooked in - when you're tossing the pasta with the sauce. The water is filled with…
on “Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?” ↗I have a few I can personally recommend: - How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman (also How to Cook Everything Vegetarian) - Ratio by Michael Ruhlman - The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt - Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat
on “Common Git Problems and How to Fix Them” ↗- Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat - Ruhlman's 20 by Michael Ruhlman - How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
on “Why do recipe writers lie and lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions?” ↗Some other books that might be more practical than The Modernist Cuisine: The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nostrat Ratio by Michael Ruhlman
on “The Why of Cooking (2017)” ↗I highly recommend Samin Nosrat's "Salt Fat Acid Heat" if you are interested in the fundamental basics of cooking like salt. > This beautiful, approachable book not only teaches you how to cook, but captures how it should feel to cook > "Just reading Salt,…
on “Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History” ↗…like preparing beans with olive oil and salt. But think of them like "kata"; basic exercises, that you can build up to more complex forms. A recent book which I've recently found extremely useful is Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. It is a wonderfully readable introduction to the elements of cooking and how they combine, and it is great for complete newbies as well as experienced home cooks. It manages to be both accessible, practical…
on “Wikimedia Cookbook” ↗That book and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat are my go to when i want to understand why something works :)
on “Maillard reaction” ↗My advice is that recipes are best used as inspiration. Rather focus on learning how to build flavour (Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat is a good reference on this), and then have a solid reference cookbook and/or website to refer to (e.g. The Joy of Cooking, Serious Eats). Once you get familiar with cooking rather than…
on “Tips for a Better Life” ↗Tough one! I have to choose two: "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" - Samin Nosrat "Walking: One step at a time" : Erling Kagge
on “Ask HN: What is the best book you read in 2020?” ↗Yeah, I’ve had the same experience. I really like the Salt Fat Acid Heat [0] book for this. It does have a section on recipes, but a solid half or more of the book is on technique, why certain ways work and others don’t, etc. Lots of stuff that I imagine one would pick up…
on “Based Cooking” ↗Since you mentioned seasoning, and I’ve got this in my clipboard from another reply... Check out Salt Fat Acid Heat [0] if you haven’t seen it. It totally changed my idea of how to season things, to the point that I feel a lot more confident modifying existing recipes now. One of the most eye opening things also sounds…
on “Based Cooking” ↗Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat is great, as is The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez Alt. I also love The Food of Sichuan by Fuchsia Dunlop but that's more Sichuan cuisine than general cooking.
on “Based Cooking” ↗If I may recommend a book: "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" by Samin Nosrat https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30753841-salt-fat-acid-h... If you look for recipes, I'd recommend starting with Italian dishes. They usually combine few ingredients but the end-results…
on “Ask HN: How to stop using food delivery apps?” ↗A sibling comment mentioned "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" by Samin Nosrat. I cannot praise this book highly enough. If you enjoy food but don't know the fundamentals of cooking, it may actually change your life. Part 1 alone took me from "I need a recipe to…
on “Heat as a Rite of Passage in the Kitchen” ↗