The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant (Judy Rodgers)

FROM CELIA SACK (OMNIVORE BOOKS NEWSLETTER, SEPTEMBER 2019: I've been thinking a lot about a question I get a lot in my shop. No, not "Do you like to cook?," to which I now answer, "This would be a very depressing job if I hated cooking." Customers often wonder what my favorite cookbook is, and my answer is consistent: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. The author, Judy Rodgers, tells you why you're doing what you're doing in the kitchen in a poetic yet concise way. Looking it over again recently, as Paula toiled away making the pappa al pomodoro (p.164), I thought more deeply about what makes this the best cookbook ever written. The answer is, it offers the keys to cooking. Not only does one learn why they're doing something (example: store a whole chicken uncovered in your fridge for two days before roasting it, so the skin will crisp up perfectly), but they learn the science - the alchemy - behind it.  Take Rodgers' advice on "sweating," (from the recipe for that pappa al pomodoro) which makes