Brys Stephens is the co-founder of Cookthink.

Sweet or salty?

Salty. Not sweet.

Which ingredient(s) do you use most?

Whole wheat pasta, hearty greens like kale, all kinds of beans, sausages, parmesan, soy sauce, ginger.

What’s the cooking sound you most love?

The quiet calm (and accompanying hunger) when a dish goes onto the plate after a busy cooking session.

Brys cooking at home in Washington, D.C.

What’s your favorite cooking smell?

Garlic and cured meats/sausages gently sizzling in olive oil.

What are the qualities you most admire in a dish?

I like everyday, one-pot dishes that are proportionally mostly vegetables with a little meat or cheese, and balance of taste — sweet, salt, bitter, sour and umami — with a lean toward bitter and sour over salty and sweet.

What is your most treasured possession in the kitchen?

A heavy-duty range that reacts quickly.

What is a dirty word in your kitchen?

Perfect.

What are afraid to do in the kitchen?

Ask for help.

What won’t you eat?

Probably wouldn’t be wild about some kinds of offal — but I generally like to eat a wide variety of foods.

Have you ever lost your appetite for a food you once loved?

In college I was a big fan of mediocre-quality name-brand supermarket fresh pasta until I went to Italy and tasted the hand-made version. Now I think that other stuff tastes like plastic.

Have you ever had a change of heart involving a food you once disliked?

I used to think rosemary tasted like a pine tree, then learned better when to use it and how to coax subtle flavor from it.

If you could choose one historical or living cook to make you a meal right now, who and what would it be?

My grandfather: thinly sliced smoked Boston butt with red tangy vinegary barbecue sauce, rolls and a side of homegrown, home-pickled artichoke hearts.

Which living cook do you most admire/despise?

I envy Jacques Pepin’s zen-like technical skill, and his ease with changing a recipe as he goes along. Don’t think there’s a living cook I despise, but I don’t get the tendency in food television toward hyberbole and and gushing.

Which food website/blog would you be lost without?

Cookthink.

Who are your favorite cookbook authors/food writers?

James Peterson, Aliza Green, Harold McGee, Claudia Roden, Kylie Kwong, Elizabeth Schneider

What is your favorite food-related word?

Greens.

What is your favorite food-related scene from literature or the movies?

This isn’t really a scene, but in a book I’m reading now called Champlain’s Dream, the author David Hackett Fischer quotes Champlain’s descriptions of the abundance of fish, game and Native American farming he saw when exploring North America — and makes me wish I could cook in North America in its early natural state.

What’s your favorite food-shopping errand or journey?

Outdoor markets in Italy, especially in Rome and Sicily, though it’s been a while.

To which country would you move for the food?

France or Italy.

To seduce someone, what would you cook?

Anything they’d like. I love the challenge of cooking things for people they think they don’t like.

What’s your poison?

Crisp, minerally, cool weather white wines like Gruner Veltliner and unoaked Chardonnay.

What’s your standard outfit in the kitchen?

Jeans and any old shirt.

You wish to die with what in your stomach?

I don’t really care.

If heaven exists, what do you hope they have on the menu?

A large build-your-own section.

If you came back as a fruit or a vegetable, which one would it be (and why)?

An artichoke — I love the weather where they grow well.

What are you craving right now?

A grilled flatbread pizza with a little tomato sauce, prosciutto and fresh mozzarella.

(Image created at Wordle.)

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