The Kitchen Whisperers: Cooking with the Wisdom of Our Friends

A beautifully written tribute to the people who teach us to cook and guide our hands in the kitchen, by a founding editor of Saveur.


The cooking lessons that stick with us are rarely the ones we read in books or learn through blog posts or YouTube videos (depending on your generation); they're the ones we pick up as we spend time with good cooks in the kitchen. Dorothy Kalins, founding editor of Savuer magazine, calls the people who pass on their cooking wisdom her Kitchen Whisperers. Consciously or not, they help make us the cooks we are-and help show the way to the kind of cooks we have the potential to become.

Dorothy's prolific career in food media means many of her Kitchen Whisperers are some of the best chefs around (though the lessons she's learned from fellow home cooks are just as important). For Dorothy, a lifetime of exposure to incredible cooks and chefs means that she can't enter her kitchen without hearing the voices of mentors and friends with whom she cooked over the years as they reveal their favorite techniques. Marcella Hazan warns her against valuing look over flavor. Christopher Hirsheimer advises that sometimes water is the best liquid to add to a dish rather than stock or wine. Her onetime Southern mother-in-law wisely knows that not everyone who asks for a biscuit is food hungry. Woven through the text are dozens of narrative recipes, from her mother's meat loaf to David Tanis's Swiss Chard Gratin.

The Kitchen Whisperers will prompt older readers to identify and cherish the food mentors in their own lives, just as it will inspire younger readers to seek them out. Stories and recipes from Dorothy's notable connections will inspire the creative food journeys of all.

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The Kitchen Whisperers: Cooking with the Wisdom of Our Friends

A beautifully written tribute to the people who teach us to cook and guide our hands in the kitchen, by a founding editor of Saveur.


The cooking lessons that stick with us are rarely the ones we read in books or learn through blog posts or YouTube videos (depending on your generation); they're the ones we pick up as we spend time with good cooks in the kitchen. Dorothy Kalins, founding editor of Savuer magazine, calls the people who pass on their cooking wisdom her Kitchen Whisperers. Consciously or not, they help make us the cooks we are-and help show the way to the kind of cooks we have the potential to become.

Dorothy's prolific career in food media means many of her Kitchen Whisperers are some of the best chefs around (though the lessons she's learned from fellow home cooks are just as important). For Dorothy, a lifetime of exposure to incredible cooks and chefs means that she can't enter her kitchen without hearing the voices of mentors and friends with whom she cooked over the years as they reveal their favorite techniques. Marcella Hazan warns her against valuing look over flavor. Christopher Hirsheimer advises that sometimes water is the best liquid to add to a dish rather than stock or wine. Her onetime Southern mother-in-law wisely knows that not everyone who asks for a biscuit is food hungry. Woven through the text are dozens of narrative recipes, from her mother's meat loaf to David Tanis's Swiss Chard Gratin.

The Kitchen Whisperers will prompt older readers to identify and cherish the food mentors in their own lives, just as it will inspire younger readers to seek them out. Stories and recipes from Dorothy's notable connections will inspire the creative food journeys of all.

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The Kitchen Whisperers: Cooking with the Wisdom of Our Friends

The Kitchen Whisperers: Cooking with the Wisdom of Our Friends

by Dorothy Kalins

Narrated by Abby Craden

Unabridged — 8 hours, 1 minutes

The Kitchen Whisperers: Cooking with the Wisdom of Our Friends

The Kitchen Whisperers: Cooking with the Wisdom of Our Friends

by Dorothy Kalins

Narrated by Abby Craden

Unabridged — 8 hours, 1 minutes

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Overview

A beautifully written tribute to the people who teach us to cook and guide our hands in the kitchen, by a founding editor of Saveur.


The cooking lessons that stick with us are rarely the ones we read in books or learn through blog posts or YouTube videos (depending on your generation); they're the ones we pick up as we spend time with good cooks in the kitchen. Dorothy Kalins, founding editor of Savuer magazine, calls the people who pass on their cooking wisdom her Kitchen Whisperers. Consciously or not, they help make us the cooks we are-and help show the way to the kind of cooks we have the potential to become.

Dorothy's prolific career in food media means many of her Kitchen Whisperers are some of the best chefs around (though the lessons she's learned from fellow home cooks are just as important). For Dorothy, a lifetime of exposure to incredible cooks and chefs means that she can't enter her kitchen without hearing the voices of mentors and friends with whom she cooked over the years as they reveal their favorite techniques. Marcella Hazan warns her against valuing look over flavor. Christopher Hirsheimer advises that sometimes water is the best liquid to add to a dish rather than stock or wine. Her onetime Southern mother-in-law wisely knows that not everyone who asks for a biscuit is food hungry. Woven through the text are dozens of narrative recipes, from her mother's meat loaf to David Tanis's Swiss Chard Gratin.

The Kitchen Whisperers will prompt older readers to identify and cherish the food mentors in their own lives, just as it will inspire younger readers to seek them out. Stories and recipes from Dorothy's notable connections will inspire the creative food journeys of all.


Editorial Reviews

NOVEMBER 2021 - AudioFile

Dorothy Kalins, founding editor of SAVEUR magazine, keeps hearing voices while she cooks. THE KITCHEN WHISPERERS includes echoes of the renowned chefs whom Kalins has known—and others who are less known. All inform her as she cooks, guiding her as she seasons and stirs. With a narration that is by turns confidential, intimate, musing, and amused, Abby Craden shares Kalins’s reflections on those who’ve shaped her life in food, capturing the voices who nudge, remind, and advise her in the kitchen. This charming production invites listeners to muse about their own kitchen whisperers, and to consider future cooks they might inspire. The audiobook includes recipes—though some cooks may be just as drawn to the useful tips throughout. All will draw comfort from knowing great cooks aren’t made, but whispered to. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

[Kalins] shares the coaxed-out wisdom, tips, skills, and recipes from legends like Marcella Hazan, Michael Anthony, and David Tanis, as well as family and friends . . . whose cooking has enriched her life. I'll shout to the heavens if need be: buy this book. It will help you soar higher than you ever dreamed.” — Food & Wine

“Kalins digs deep into memories and sessions with internationally known chefs (e.g., the late Marcella Hazan) to uncover the answers to 'what, exactly, are the secrets of great kitchen work?' . . . Beautifully written, thoughtful content that mirrors our current mindfulness movement.” — Booklist (starred review)

“The Kitchen Whisperers is a personal chronicle of culinary wisdom collected over a lifetime of eating, cooking, and making friends over food. Dorothy’s voice is both evocative and intimate; the stories extraordinary; the lessons they teach us are ones any home cook might put to use. This book reminds us what food lovers already know—that food memories are the most powerful memories.” — Claire Saffitz, author, Dessert Person

“Terrific, evocative, poetic, a complete treat to read. Wonderful!” — Bill Buford

“Kalins . . . reflects on the cooks and chefs whose 'generous lessons' enriched her love of food in this meditative memoir. . . . While each memory is a pleasure to savor, what resonates most is the how these stories will inspire readers to take stock and appreciate their own whisperers. Food lovers will want to devour this one slowly.” — Publishers Weekly

“[The book features] many of the culinary names [Kalins] worked with . . . like Colman Andrews, Marcella Hazan, Michael Anthony and Anita Lo. Through her eyes and lively prose, they provide [a] compelling common-sense approach to food that will easily resonate with experienced cooks and should bolster the confidence of novices.” — New York Times

“Reading The Kitchen Whisperers, one can’t escape Dorothy Kalins’s profoundly intimate love of food. All Kalins’s memories are smelled and tasted. Were we all lucky enough to have such richly scented scenes in our personal pasts, we would never be alone.” — Tamar Adler, author, An Everlasting Meal

“Well-written . . . Kalins has written a timeless culinary memoir that allows readers to experience her life in food. Recommended for foodies and cooks of all ages.” — Library Journal

Booklist (starred review)

Kalins digs deep into memories and sessions with internationally known chefs (e.g., the late Marcella Hazan) to uncover the answers to 'what, exactly, are the secrets of great kitchen work?' . . . Beautifully written, thoughtful content that mirrors our current mindfulness movement.

New York Times

[The book features] many of the culinary names [Kalins] worked with . . . like Colman Andrews, Marcella Hazan, Michael Anthony and Anita Lo. Through her eyes and lively prose, they provide [a] compelling common-sense approach to food that will easily resonate with experienced cooks and should bolster the confidence of novices.

Bill Buford

Terrific, evocative, poetic, a complete treat to read. Wonderful!

Claire Saffitz

“The Kitchen Whisperers is a personal chronicle of culinary wisdom collected over a lifetime of eating, cooking, and making friends over food. Dorothy’s voice is both evocative and intimate; the stories extraordinary; the lessons they teach us are ones any home cook might put to use. This book reminds us what food lovers already know—that food memories are the most powerful memories.

Food & Wine

[Kalins] shares the coaxed-out wisdom, tips, skills, and recipes from legends like Marcella Hazan, Michael Anthony, and David Tanis, as well as family and friends . . . whose cooking has enriched her life. I'll shout to the heavens if need be: buy this book. It will help you soar higher than you ever dreamed.

Tamar Adler

Reading The Kitchen Whisperers, one can’t escape Dorothy Kalins’s profoundly intimate love of food. All Kalins’s memories are smelled and tasted. Were we all lucky enough to have such richly scented scenes in our personal pasts, we would never be alone.

Library Journal

10/01/2021

In this well-written culinary memoir, Kalins (founding editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine; author of V is for Vegetable) discusses her so-called "kitchen whisperers": the chefs whose culinary guidance she often calls on while cooking or shopping for ingredients. Danny Meyer, a longtime friend, wrote the book's introduction, where he talks about his own kitchen whisperers, including his father and Kalins. Kalins's memoir mentions a number of personal mentors, including Marcella Hazen and David Tanis, and describes how they have influenced her throughout her culinary career. There is also a chapter about traveling to Israel with chef Michael Solomonov to film the documentary In Search of Israeli Cuisine (directed by Kalins's husband Roger Sherman). In addition to these recollections, the memoir includes a handful of recipes—some based on Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, others influenced by Kalins's Southern mother-in-law. VERDICT Kalins has written a timeless culinary memoir that allows readers to experience her life in food. Recommended for foodies and cooks of all ages.—Holly Skir, Broward Cty. Lib., FL

NOVEMBER 2021 - AudioFile

Dorothy Kalins, founding editor of SAVEUR magazine, keeps hearing voices while she cooks. THE KITCHEN WHISPERERS includes echoes of the renowned chefs whom Kalins has known—and others who are less known. All inform her as she cooks, guiding her as she seasons and stirs. With a narration that is by turns confidential, intimate, musing, and amused, Abby Craden shares Kalins’s reflections on those who’ve shaped her life in food, capturing the voices who nudge, remind, and advise her in the kitchen. This charming production invites listeners to muse about their own kitchen whisperers, and to consider future cooks they might inspire. The audiobook includes recipes—though some cooks may be just as drawn to the useful tips throughout. All will draw comfort from knowing great cooks aren’t made, but whispered to. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940176255843
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 09/07/2021
Edition description: Unabridged
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