Category Archives: Interviews

Sometimes things are splendid

Life goal achieved, getting to chat on The Splendid Table: Ep. 574: Bulletproof Recipes

Melissa Clark: Why has food become so important to people in the media? What are they looking for?

Kat Kinsman: It’s the only subject that you can cover that absolutely every single person has something to do with. Everybody eats. Not everybody is fetish-y about it, and that’s OK.

I do a little game with myself if I’m traveling. I try to talk to three different people who I’ve never met before. The inroad is always food. Somebody has eaten today. Somebody is thinking about where they’re going to eat. Everybody has a stake in the game.

Read and listen to the rest at The Splendid Table

Sometimes I talk food snobbery

Ariel Knutson of The Kitchen asked food writers and editors, including Francis Lam, Helen Rosner, Twilight Greenaway, Adam Roberts, Peggy Wang, Cathy Erway, Cheryl Sternman Rule and me to weigh in and tell her how they geek out over food without sounding like a snob.

Here’s what I said:

I like people who like things. Full stop. I’m waaaayyyyy more interested in people who are giddy and confident about their passions than I am in people who think that dislike equals discernment. I’m especially put off by people whose first response to someone saying: “I like such-and-such.” is “Ewwww! I hate that!” Why would you rob someone of their joy? Even if it’s not your bag, step outside of yourself for a second and ask them what it is that makes them love this particular ingredient, dish, restaurant, cuisine. You get to learn a little something about it and the person who loves it, and you get a chance to not make the world suck a little more for them.
Bottom line: As I always say, it it tastes good, it is good — even if it’s not to you.

See the rest at The Kitchn: “How to Talk About Food Without Sounding Like a Snob“

Sometimes I talk about pie crust

Edible Brooklyn asked a few folks, including Sam Sifton, Hannah Kirshner, Food52, Butter & Scotch, Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Caroline Lange and me about our pie crust methodology. An excerpt:

Kat Kinsman: In college, I double-majored in painting and sculpture and I get my ya-yas out with pie edges. I appreciate the precisions and aesthetics of the fork crimp, but I like getting my hands in there, so I press in two fingers and pinch up a peak between them. I’ll usually just rotate the plate, but if I’m feeling very fussy, I’ll do the 12 o’clock spot, then the six o’clock, then the three then the nine, and inward from there, just to make sure it all matches up. No one will notice or care, but I like touching dough. I’m just gonna own it.

Read more at Edible Brooklyn’s “The Great Pie Crust Debate“

Sometimes I talk with smart people about social media

From my conversation with the marvelous Dianne Jacob:

Q. Do you have a love-hate relationship with Twitter?

A. Mostly love. It’s broken down the barriers with so many people. Now people in the firmament are only 140 characters away.

Q. What is your definition of doing it well?

A. You’re part of the conversation, not just advertising. You’re there to have a dialog with people, something human and genuine. You trust that your audience and readers have something to say back. People can have surprisingly substantive conversations on Twitter.

If you‘re responding to someone, it has to stand on its own as a comment. You retweet in an interesting, smart and controversial way. You have to be able to express yourself in concise thoughts.

Read the rest at “The Scariest Thing about Twitter is to Let Yourself be Seen“

Sometimes I go to New Orleans and talk with Poppy Tooker on the radio

I had the tremendous pleasure of being a guest on my friend Poppy Tooker’s radio show, Louisiana Eats.

“Louisiana Eats! is a radio show for people who cook and people who love to eat well — all with a Louisiana point of view and Poppy’s distinctive Louisiana voice.” Damn skippy.