The Cooking Club
I’m building an online cooking club to help people learn how to cook amazing food at home.
I’ve been brainstorming this idea for some time now, and I got a ton of positive feedback when I discussed it recently. I’m currently in the process of building the site, and it should be ready to debut in early March!
So what will it be, exactly?
My current plan is to structure it as a newsletter + online community hub, with both a free tier and a paid tier. The free tier will get access to occasional recipes and guides, plus a monthly round-up (which will replace this newsletter). The paid tier will get a new recipe each week, explanations of important techniques, guides, access to the full archive of content, and access to the community portal where members can ask questions and get feedback. I’m also brainstorming some additional members-only content for this year including live cooking classes, guest chef tutorials, and more.
I’d like for this cooking club to be something of a recipe club and cooking school combined into one. My goal is to teach you to operate in the kitchen with the confidence of a seasoned chef. There will be weekly recipe posts with step-by-step photo instructions, notes on ingredient substitutions, suggested drink pairings, and tips and tricks to make the cooking process more enjoyable. I’ll also publish detailed explanations of key methods and techniques that will help you better understand the fundamentals of cooking. There will be guides for things like cookware, stocking a pantry, caring for cast iron, and much more. I’ve got a lot of ideas brewing, and I’m excited to get this off the ground!
I would love to hear anyone’s feedback on this! What sounds most interesting and useful to you? Feel free to reply to this email with any thoughts!
Vinegars I Love
I think that vinegar is the most underrated ingredient in the American pantry.
Proper use of acidity is nearly as important a skill as proper use of salt. Vinegar doesn’t just provide acidity, though— it carries the flavors of whatever it’s made with, complexity from the fermentation process, and acidity from the naturally present acetic acid.
Most grocery store vinegars are mass-produced, one-dimensional, and boring. I highly recommend checking out some vinegars from the brands below. You’ll be blown away.
Katz Farm - wine and fruit vinegars
Iio Jozo - the BEST rice vinegar
American Vinegar Works - rice, wine, fruit, and beer vinegars
TART - limited edition, small-batch, very creative vinegars
Acid League - lots of cool, interesting flavor combinations
If you have recommendations for additional brands I should try, please let me know!
What I’m Reading
A few issues ago I wrote about Noma’s garums. If you missed it, garum is a condiment that dates back to the Roman Empire, where it was the most widely-used flavor agent of the day. Noma, the top-rated restaurant in Copenhagen, started experimenting with garums in their fermentation lab and came up with some really interesting things.
I’m fascinated by garums and their history, and this article was a really cool overview of both the history and modern iterations.
Also— Noma’s garums are lunching March 1st!
What I’m Listening To
I’ve listened to two great food-focused podcasts recently.
The first was an interview with Cole Bolton and a guy who goes by the name Texas Slim. They’re both involved in the beef industry, and they had some really interesting things to say about the state of the industry, supply chains, big corporate interests, small family farmers, and the importance of buying meat from local, sustainable producers. It’s a great listen, and I’m excited to learn more about their Beef Initiative.
The second is an interview with Phillip Frankland Lee, a chef based in Austin. He’s the head chef at Scratch Restaurants, a group that owns a number of restaurants including the highly-rated Sushi Bar.
If you’re as much of a food nerd as I am, you’ll really enjoy this interview. Lee’s experience and breadth of knowledge is pretty astounding. I particularly loved hearing his somewhat contrarian opinions on certain standard cooking practices and his detailed explanations of techniques he uses and dishes he makes.
Thanks for reading this newsletter!
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Gonna wish really really hard for some Iio joza rice vin, and sweet potato Vin sounds dope.
Revisiting the noma book, want to try a Moroccan mint kombucha for the restaurant
Been diving into beef products / supply chain as well! Let’s swap notes after I give the pod a listen.
Good luck on building the community. If there is value, they will come! Cheers brother