In his three decades behind the stove, David Tanis has overseen kitchens in Santa Fe and Paris and throughout the San Francisco Bay area. He currently writes the weekly City Kitchen column for The New York Times. As part of October’s Artisan Cookbook Club special, he kindly took a break to chat with us about his new cookbook, One Good Dish, and to answer some of our burning questions.
Your usual breakfast: My morning eating habits vary with the seasons, but I don’t ever eat immediately upon rising. I usually make a pot of weak tea, which I sip lazily for an hour or so while trying to get organized. I might have a piece of toast or a tangerine, but generally I want to do some physical work or take a walk, then have some breakfast around ten o’clock, maybe scrambled eggs with green chile.
Your ideal kitchen sound track: I like a quiet kitchen. Once I volunteered in a Zen Buddhist kitchen with a rule of no talking except to say, “Excuse me, your apron’s on fire” or something of that sort. It was great. But sometimes a Sondheim score at full blast is just the thing. I put on something danceable when guests arrive.
Utensil you can’t live without: I’d rather not live without a sharp knife—I take them with me on holidays; everything else is negotiable.
Fantasy vacation: A house by the sea, a small group of friends, simple meals cooked together.
Food you won’t eat: There is no food, offal or otherwise, that I wouldn’t try. And there’s nothing I can think of that I don’t like. As a child, I happily ate both spinach and liver.
Your Madeleine: If you mean what one food stirs memories like no other, I’m not sure I can say. But I have lots of food memories, most of them aroma-activated sense memories. Today I thought of a black bean torta I ate in Oaxaca a long time ago. I can still taste it.
Last meal you cooked for yourself: Last night I made myself spaghetti with bread crumbs. It’s a very simple pasta—garlicky, a bit spicy, and completely satisfying. You can find the recipe in One Good Dish.
Holiday recipe you cherish: How about a relish I cherish? The cranberry-jalapeño chutney in Heart of the Artichoke is nice to have on hand. So is my friend Niloufer Ichaporia King’s tomato chutney, or her Parsi wedding pickle, in her cookbook, My Bombay Kitchen.
Ingredient you have banned from your kitchen: Truffle oil. It’s a synthetically made product. A truffle producer in France told me it’s made in a lab and has no real truffle content. But he sells it because people want it.
Ingredient you’re currently loving: A friend has a Kafir lime tree. The leaves are incredibly fragrant. They’re traditionally used in Thai fish cakes. I’ve been grinding the fresh leaves to a green powder in a spice mill and using it to season fish stews.
Sweet or savory? Savory, definitely.
Chocolate or cheese? Cheese. And another glass of wine. For me, chocolate is something tiny served with coffee.
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