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Michael Ruhlman is a writer and journalist who has authored twelve books. While his subjects have ranged from wooden boats to pediatric surgery, Ruhlman's main work has been writing about chefs and the world of professional cooking. His book The Making of a Chef is an excellent chronicle of how professional chefs are trained at the Culinary Institute of America, while his The French Laundry Cookbook (co-written with Thomas Keller) remains one of the most widely-acclaimed cookbooks ever. Ruhlman has written for The New York Times, Gourmet Magazine, and Food Arts. |
In the past, you've mentioned being fascinated with Americans' cooking routines. For example, you roast chicken almost every Monday evening. What interests you about this? I think what we eat routinely, rather than what we make for a fancy dinner party, tells us a lot about ourselves. It's kind of a window into America and it interests me from a practical standpoint. What are people's go-to meals? What compels you to share your knowledge/love of the culinary world with food enthusiasts and home chefs? Do you enjoy distilling and de-mystifying the culinary arts? My love compels me! I think people can live better lives if they know how to cook and eat well. What i like to do, what my career has really been about, has been bringing the knowledge and language of the professional kitchen to the home cook. Over the years, I've had many friends who cook and, without fail, they're told: "This is so good. You should open a restaurant." Is this a common misconception? Just how large is the gulf between the home kitchen and the professional one? Vast. Cooking for eight is different than charging hundreds of people money for food and delivering. You have profiled many different chefs from many different backgrounds. Are there any shared characteristics among the chefs you respect most? They all have extraordinary energy and stamina. They all love life, love eating and drinking and making people happy, which makes them the best company i know! You are a very vocal proponent of your hometown's culture and cuisine. How much does living in Cleveland impact your cooking? It very much determines the ingredients I use. You won't find a lot of papaya or mango or even saltwater fish in my cooking. What are some things that might surprise people about the Cleveland food scene? That it's just as diverse as it is as anywhere else in the country. There's just less of it than in San Francisco or or New York City. When it comes to writing, do you have a specific creative process? Yes: routine. I'm at my desk at the same time every day for the same amount of time, producing about the same number of words. Calling The French Laundry Cookbook a "cookbook" is almost a disservice. It's not just engaging, but it's almost a work of art unto itself. Was it your always your intention to approach this book differently? What was that process like? Thomas [Keller] said to me, "I want a book filled with stories," so that's what I set out to do, in the way that I knew how. Reporting, observing, hanging out, then going home to write. I wanted it to engage as a story. You've collaborated on quite a few of your previous books, ranging from Thomas Keller to Eric Ripert. How do you go about collaborating on these projects? Is it a long-distance process or something more one-on-one? A little of both. It requires travel and talk and hanging out with people, and then I go home and write. Structuring your most recent book The Elements of Cooking after Strunk & White's seminal grammar book The Elements of Style cleverly underscores your life as a food writer. How close are the processes of writing and cooking for you? How does one impact the other? I think they're linked. I started cooking at almost the exact time I began writing regularly, when I was 9 or 10. I think the urge to cook and to write are located in the same spot in my brain. You've appeared on several food-related shows, including The Next Iron Chef. What are the positives and negatives of food television, in your opinion? The positive is that you can reach extraordinary numbers of people. If you have something valuable to convey, this is a good thing. If you do not, that is the negative aspect of television. It broadcasts crap just as effectively as it broadcasts good stuff. You have veered away from writing about the culinary world on several occasions-most notably, the excellent Walk on Water. Are you interested in pursuing any other non-culinary subjects in the future? I am. I can get burned out on food only. I think delving into other realms keeps the eyes and the mind fresh. For more about Michael Ruhlman, visit his site. 
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