“There’s this transformation that happens when you combine a set of ingredients,” he says.
The recipes in his book will encourage the reader to “get in there,” whether that means using your hands to rid your herbs of dirt in his Kuku Sabzi or relishing in the freshly grated coconut shavings that linger on your fingers while making his Coconut and Fresh Chile Crisp. He believes in the “less is more” approach and is a fervent advocate of using his hands so he can better focus on and connect with what is in front of him. “I want to remove any kind of fear.”Īnd the recipe developer practices what he preaches-many might be shocked to hear he abstains from using a garlic press and instant pot and rarely uses measuring cups or spoons. “Consumers are told that make your life in the kitchen easier, but I think it ends up creating these barriers and clouds your judgment in the kitchen,” Baraghani says.
Within the first couple of pages, Baraghani goes from telling his story of working multiple restaurant jobs in his teenage years while discovering his identity as a gay, Iranian man, to listing off the cooking rules he lives by and believes everyone else should adopt as well.Īmong his ten rules (which are more like commandments), “lose the gadgets” may be the most divisive. Andy Baraghani is direct, welcoming, and eloquent-and his new book, The Cook You Want to Be, is no different.
