Yeah

...

so well-dressed and like- It seems fun.

Like, I can't be friends with them.

I was talking to somebody about this the other day, like how hard it is to be well-dressed now because of the homogenous culture and everybody sees everything and, but she so manages to, like, carry through.

I mean, her style is the envy of every person with the, with, you know, awareness of the internet that has, like, seen all of her appearances over the last few years.

But, like, she's always had it.

What do you love about her?

How did you relate to the femininity in an environment like that, and how did you use it or not use it?

I could not have my nails painted in professional kitchens.

It was not allowed.

So this wasn't something that I started doing until, like, seven, eight years ago, and I think it was just, like, after a long time of not doing it, I was like, "Oh, this feels like something I want to do." Something that feels important to me in my, in my work that I make generally is that this feels unique, or this feels distinct, or this feels like a calling card of some sort.

And I felt like at the time that was a good way to just be like, "Oh, this is me." And it wasn't, like, necessarily that intentional of a choice, it was sort of a background choice, but then it became a part of sort of my identity where I was like, "Well, now I feel naked without it."

Mm-hmm

... one skillet.

Like, no attention.

find employment afterwards.

Not that I was scared of that happening to me, but it's sort of Titanic deck chair.

You know, we're like, yeah, I can see like what's going on.

Budget cuts, people are getting laid off.

You might think that you are impervious to that, but you're probably not.

And if there's a chance at all that you don't have job security, then maybe you find a different job.

And when I started working in magazines, people jumped around to working in other magazines.

So talk to me about what that has been like for you.

... and being like, "Why would you buy anything when you can make it yourself?" You know, as the person who their pantry is lined with, like, ingredients rather than I- you know, things.

things....

so it's funny that I then got in the tomato sauce business, because I've written recipes for tomato sauce, and I'm very proud of mine, and I think it's delicious, and easy to make, and anyone can do it.

And then the older I got, and I married a man who does not cook.

I had a baby.

The baby does not cook yet either, [laughing] unfortunately.

I needed to eat more.

... multiple interest before the founder sees a penny of it.

Other restrictions may apply.

Hey, friends.

This is Radio Atlantic, I'm Hannah Rosen, and we have a treat for you today.

Today being Thanksgiving.

Recently, I interviewed chef and cookbook author Alison Roman on stage in DC at Sixth & I.

And since many of us are thinking about food this week, we decided to share that conversation.

Even if you don't know Roman, it's likely you've eaten one of her recipes, especially her mega viral one for caramelized shallot pasta.

(laughs)

Okay, so as we leave, is it why you got into cooking? And- and also now, what's your reason for still doing this work?

Hmm.

I do think that there is a level of anybody who cooks professionally, be it cookbook author, in a restaurant, a caterer, any sort of form of hospitality, there's a desire to care for people.

There's a desire to people please.

There's a desire to nurture.

And if that is because you didn't have nurturement or care growing up, or if that's just because you had an abundance of it and you enjoy it, there's a lot of ways to get there.

It's not always rooted in trauma.

... on the heels of all that happened, how do you feel about yourself?

(laughs)

When you're in New York, specifically, you can walk outside and within five minutes get any ingredient you want, pretty much.

You can, like, go to the bodega.

They're all really well-stocked.

And you can be back home and cooking whatever you need.

Um, you can get something delivered.

You can get, like, anything you need.

Like, what, what happened? What is it? I can't put my finger on it.

(laughs) You know, in your view, what is a cookbook for in kind of the age when you can get a recipe from TikTok or amazing recipes from the kind of New York Times app? What do you see as the value of a physical cookbook?

God, if I don't ask myself that every day.

Um, I feel like to me it is like a single versus an album or something.

Like, I think that there is something-... still so valuable in a collection.

Um, even in, like, uh, I don't know, like, storytelling capacity, where it's, like, you read a short story in The New Yorker, you like what they write, you're gonna buy their book 'cause you wanna read more of that or you wanna, you know, see through their eyes what, like, a collection looks like.

Things that are a collection of something, be it a recipe or a story or, you know, songs, are meant to be, I think, enjoyed together.

Like, there's a story, there's a purpose, there's a theme.

(laughs)