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3.
AOTW: Do you have numerous prep cooks who help in the test kitchen, and is that taken into consideration when writing a recipe for a home cook?
Smita Chandra: No, I do all my recipe testing myself and let my family be the judge of whether it is 'bookworthy' or not. My recipes usually serve four and can be easily doubled to increase quantities. All my books are aimed at the home cook and I try to keep them simple and easy to follow.
Stan Frankenthaler: Actually, my Sous Chef Michael McEwen and I were the only ones working on testing the recipes and most of them were tested in my home kitchen. We bought our ingredients in supermarkets and ethnic markets and tried to rely very little on the restaurant's crew or purveyors.
Victoria Granof: Ha! I have one prep cook, one dishwasher, one recipe tester, one food stylist and one writer --- myself!
Kathy Gunst: No. I create the recipe, re-test it and then ask a friend to test it at home.
Elinor Klivans: My specialty is home baking and I test everything first in my home kitchen, which has ordinary appliances. For Fearless Baking, I had a group of new bakers and fearful bakers test the recipes after I worked them out. I learned a lot from them about what worries people about baking and was able to rewrite the recipes so to anticipate possible problems and solve them before they happened. A baking success gives everyone so much confidence and the desire to try more baking.
David Lebovitz: I use friends who are good home cooks to test my recipes, since a professional tester may make assumptions. I think my audience are good home bakers, with a little experience, but not a lot! Also you have to gear your recipes for home bakers' equipment. I try to adjust all recipes to 9-inch springform pans, or 2-quart baking dishes, 4 to 6-ounce custard cups, all of which are pretty much standard in home kitchens.
Sheila Lukins: I do not have a bevy of prep cooks --- since I sold The Silver Palate in 1988 I have been working in my kitchen at home. It is large and comfortable. One marvelous woman, Laurie Griffith, has been working with me for 10 years. She is a wonderful cook and is excellent at millions of other aspects of my business.
Steven Raichlen: I have one person who helps me with prep and clean-up sometimes. I test all my recipes myself. Most of them I make for my wife and myself for dinner, so these are very much recipes readers can do.
Joanne Weir: Yes, I use many assistants who test my books. I usually use one main assistant to test the whole book and then have others who re-test certain recipes. My recipe testers are very accomplished cooks and also extremely exacting. I am so lucky to have them. Believe it or not, my mother is one of them. (She is retired now but she cooked professionally for many, many years.)
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