26 things Elena Voss from Portland, OR actually loves
- A sharp knife on a wooden board, the sound it makes
- Rancho Gordo beans, especially the Royal Corona
- Farmers market tomatoes that smell like the vine
- Staff meal at 4pm, everyone leaning against something
- Kachka's herring under a fur coat
- Alice Waters
- The first asparagus of spring
- My cast iron skillet, the one I've had since culinary school
- A perfectly emulsified vinaigrette
- Forest Park after rain
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi, for the ten thousandth time
- Brown butter at the exact moment it smells like hazelnuts
- Tartine bread, the country loaf
- My sous chef Dani, who makes everything better
- Gillian Welch on a Sunday morning
- The Columbia River Gorge in October
- Maldon salt
- Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce, the one with just butter and an onion
- People who wash their cutting board between proteins
- The quiet after close, wiping down the last station
- Samin Nosrat's approach to teaching
- A perfectly tempered chocolate ganache
- Wild chanterelles from the coast range, still damp
- The Willamette Valley in June
- Feeding someone something I made and watching their face change
- The conviction that a recipe is a starting point, not a contract