Samin Nosrat arrives with the easy confidence of someone who has spent years helping home cooks trust themselves. Many readers know her from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and the Netflix series it inspired, but her new book Good Things marks a shift. After eight years shaped by personal loss, the pandemic and the weight of expectation, she wanted to write something more reflective.
“If Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is a book for the head, Good Things is a book for the heart,” she says – a way of reconnecting with cooking after a period of feeling “quite lost”.
Listen to Samin Nosrat’s podcast episode, then explore more chats with chefs and food creators for their best kitchen tips, stories and slip-ups in our podcast hub.
Finding her way back to the kitchen
Eight years have passed since her debut, years shaped by global upheaval, personal loss and the dizzying aftermath of sudden fame. She speaks openly about how hard it felt to create something “big” again.
“I had the idea for Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat when I was 19 and it came out when I was 37. That’s a very long time… In the wake of all this success I realised I didn’t actually know where I was headed.”
The pandemic, grief and the pressure to perform left her adrift. But writing Good Things became a way back to herself and back to the kitchen.
Why simple food still matters
If there is a thread that runs through Samin’s work, it is the belief that food is about more than sustenance. It is about connection to others, to memory, to place. Her stories brim with sensory detail: the tang of rice seasoned with vinegar, the comfort of roast chicken, the creamy richness of clotted cream at a London hotel breakfast.
She recalls a recent dinner at Hoppers, a Sri Lankan spot in London, where the hot butter squid left her swooning. “It was so delicious… like a calamari salad, basically. And then my girlfriend got a mini cocktail, a literal child-sized martini glass. It was so cute.” For someone who has eaten everywhere, it is the simple pleasures, a perfectly salted vegetable, a well-made salad, a friend’s home-cooked meal that stay with her.
Learning to cook without perfection
Samin’s food memories are rooted in her Iranian heritage and her mother’s tireless quest to recreate the flavours of home. “My mum would drive all over Southern California, sometimes 150 kilometres, just to go to whatever grocery store had the fresh Persian bread. There was always this seeking out of some taste that I didn’t know… but to me it tastes exactly right.”
Her own approach to cooking is shaped as much by her years in world-class kitchens as by the realities of everyday life at home. She laughs about the pressure of perfectionism, of trying to recreate restaurant-level dishes at home, and the relief of letting that go. “I’ve been deprogramming myself. Sometimes I can’t make everything at home at a five-star restaurant level… I’m learning to be a little bit less harsh on myself.”
How teaching shapes the way she cooks
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat changed the way millions think about cooking. But Samin is quick to say she is still learning, too. Her teaching style is rooted in empathy for slow learners and a desire to offer different entry points, from visual guides to narrative recipes to the tactile rhythm of cooking itself.
One of her proudest achievements is helping people trust their senses in the kitchen and not be afraid of mistakes. “I can spend my whole life hoping that I can free you from recipes… but at the end of the day, I have to help you, hold your hand, push you along gently, let you learn to trust yourself.”
When asked for her favourite dish, Samin does not hesitate. It is buttermilk roast chicken. “It’s such a hokey answer, but it’s actually true for me… It’s so comforting. For someone to make that for me is such an amazing gesture.”
Choosing to be good enough
Perhaps the most moving part of Samin’s story is her journey toward accepting that good enough really is good enough. After years of trying to be two kids’ worth of good following the loss of her sister in early childhood, she has learned through therapy, grief and the support of friends and family to let go of perfection.
“I started to say, just make a thing. Everything doesn’t have to be the capital best, ultimate everything… The whole time writing this book, I told myself, just finish something. And now, I’m so proud of it. It’s so different than the other one and also they share a DNA, which is me.”
What good food really means
Asked what good food means to her, Samin’s answer is simple. It is food made and enjoyed with care. Whether it is a bright vegetable salad, a childhood stew or the humble comfort of roast chicken, her message is clear. Cooking is an act of love, for others and for ourselves.
And in a world that often demands more, faster and better, Samin Nosrat offers a honest reminder. Sometimes just good is enough.
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