Emily Franklin’s most recent book is Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes. Learn more about Emily at her website. You can find some of Emily’s recipes here.

Sweet or salty?

Sweet.

Which ingredient(s) do you use most?

Eggs, salt, sugar, olive oil.

What’s the cooking sound you most love?

The pop that indicated the jams or pickles I’ve canned have been properly sealed — my grandma Bev calls it singing.

What’s your favorite cooking smell?

Garlic and onions in olive oil.

What are the qualities you most admire in a dish?

Great texture, flavor, proportion.

What is your most treasured possession in the kitchen?

My 94-year-old grandmother’s metal rolling pin that wobbles slightly but makes great crusts and pies.

What is a dirty word in your kitchen?

Slimy. I have a problem with certain textures and sometimes oozing, slimy dishes make me shiver.

What are afraid to do in the kitchen?

It’s not much a fear as an aversion, but I’m not a big fan of overly complicated baking. Not that everything should be simple, I do love complex flavors, but super-fussy recipes make me want to make a grilled cheese and tomato and be done.

What won’t you eat?

Brain or heart (of any animal), runny eggs, beef liver (love chicken, however), mushrooms (a sad allergy that started with going into shock in college — previously, I ate mushrooms all the time).

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

I move in food cycles, often exhausting a dish by eating it too frequently. I used to eat a lot of Thai yellow curry, but then had two curries in a row with terrible sour flavor and am now fairly put off by it. I’ll let it go for a while and then try it in a few months.

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

I’ve been an omnivore forever, but never enjoyed coconut. I am now verging on zealot, particularly with coconut macaroons, but only ones that are crispy and chewy. And I had amazing coconut while visiting a friend in central Mexico, an over-sized cookie she said translated into “messy unbrushed hair,” and seemed to be made with fresh-picked coconut, condensed milk and cajeta, a goat’s milk dulce de leche. I could go on.

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

My oldest son makes a mean fried egg, and the others have a way with cereal, but if I wanted more than that, I’d have my grandmother magically come back to the kitchen and fix some of her famous pumpkin bread.

Which food website/blog would you be lost without?

I’m a frequent visitor to The Kitchn.

Who are your favorite cookbook authors/food writers?

John Thorne, Elizabeth David, Samuel Chamberlain, Simon Hopkinton.

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

The descriptions in The Age of Innocence, A Moveable Feast and the chocolate in the film of the same name.

To which country would you move for the food?

My dad lives in Italy, so that would be easy, but I adore Iceland (though I’d miss some of my vegetables). I’m pretty happy where I am.

To seduce someone, what would you cook?

My mango curry chicken with fresh poppadums, or chocolate pudding cake. They’ve worked in the past.

What’s your standard outfit in the kitchen?

Whatever I’m wearing during the day, which, with four kids under 9, is usually jeans, t-shirt, hair back, shoes on.

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

The coconut mounds from Mexico, the pizza from the tiny place near my dad’s farm in Italy, Icelandic skyr, plum jam, crusty chewy bread, triple-creme cheeses, chevre, freshly baked ginger-molasses chocolate chip cookies, soups.

What are you craving right now?

Levain cookies, steamed vanilla milk for breakfast; spicy bibimbap for lunch; and not quite sure about dinner.

(Image created at Wordle.)

Posted by kristin in the cookthink questionnaire | | Subscribe to this feed