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In the second in a series of Critics at Large interview episodes devoted to the topic of cult classics, Naomi Fry talks with the New Yorker staff writer Hannah Goldfield about how that designation applies in the culinary realm. The two discuss specialty ingredients that appear on menus for only the briefest of moments, out-of-print cookbooks that go for hundreds of dollars on eBay, and once niche restaurants that have blown up in the TikTok era. Then, Goldfield makes her case for the particular staying power of Judy Rodgers’s “Zuni Café Cookbook,” which has influenced countless chefs and food writers—including Samin Nosrat, whose “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” immediately soared to the top of best-seller lists upon its release, in 2017. “The Zuni Café Cookbook,” though less accessible, has attracted such illustrious devotees for a reason. “It’s text-heavy. It’s huge in size. It’s a bit intimidating at first,” Goldfield says. “But if you are interested in cooking—or if you have a curiosity about it, even—it’s an incredible resource.”
Read, watch, and listen with the critics:
“Heartburn,” by Nora Ephron
“The Joy of Cooking,” by Irma S. Rombauer
“Cooking with Love,” by Ruth Sirkis
“The Surprising Endurance of Martha Stewart’s ‘Entertaining,’ ” by Hannah Goldfield (The New Yorker)
“Entertaining,” by Martha Stewart
“The Zuni Café Cookbook,” by Judy Rodgers
“Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat,” by Samin Nosrat
New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.