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What is it that Molly Baz wishes she could make magic with her wand, and bring cooking to everyone
Molly Baz, recipe developer and the owner of mollybaz.com is a dreamer with big dreams. "When I was young, I wanted to be an astronaut." she starts "Then I dreamed of becoming a United Nations translator. After this, I was thinking that I was going to run the art museum in New York City." So, logically enough, she was able to pursue a degree in art history from Skidmore College, the liberal arts college.
But it was during a year abroad in Italy and studying Renaissance art, that her love for food took over other interests: "I was living with an elderly lady named Graziella, who was my'grandma' at homestay. She spoke no English - she couldn't even comprehend me when I asked thank you, but she was an incredible cook."
It seems Graziella's main daily activity was to visit the local market, find some ingredients, and cook Molly dinner. "She just lived for this," Molly continues. "I have never had a meal such a way. I hadn't been exposed to Italian food seasons and the reverence of ingredients. However, I thought to myself"Oh my God I'm in love with this! !'." Molly informs me that the way she cooks was not something she was raised with and is certain that it's true to the vast majority of people out there. "My parents were not looking for premium ricotta cheese and top tomatoes. It wasn't the thing."
Molly talks to me about "mind-bending 'whoa' moments" during her time in Italy which led her to come home wanting to work with food. The way that Graziella shop at the market for groceries was very different to Molly's own experiences. Molly explains: "Instead of going to the market on Sunday during the week, Graziella was a market shopper daily. This was because 'You don't exactly know who is going to be in the market - and the peaches might look more attractive today than yesterday'. This was about respect."
Molly informs me that with the most classic Italian way her Tuscan meals were both simple as well as delicious and rustic. "Her tomato sauce will remain remembered in my head," she continues. "It's very good, particularly during winter since it uses cherry tomatoes, that are, in my opinion, the only fresh tomatoes that are worth your while outside of the season."
It's clear from the way Molly speaks about food that, she believes that cooking for her is about more than just combining flavours. It's about the entire process of looking at the various ingredients available and evaluating what's appealing while creating the perfect meal within your head. "That's just not how my brain was working. It was just that I didn't consider eating this way. Now, of course, this is all I can think about," She smiles. Perhaps this is the reason Molly calls herself a recipe developer rather than being a cook.
Recipes, restaurants and rolls around
To further her journey within the food industry after leaving Italy, Molly worked in establishments where she was taught how to cook. However, it wasn't her ultimate goal "I burned out on restaurants and decided I didn't really want to own the restaurant of my dreams. However, I was certain that I would like to be a chef and had to find a career which made sense to me."
Molly entered the world of food styling due to the fact that "the following logical progression from the history of art, which includes composition and color, was the art of making food appear appealing". As Molly's father was an artist, she thought this could be the method to interact with food , based on her talents, knowledge as well as the manner in which she was raised.
"It went well for a while and I enjoyed it," she says, "But ultimately, I felt like I was cooking and decorating food for other people. The feeling is, "Cool, it looks great', and you have some ownership over the photograph, but it's not really your food. It's someone who else's. I wanted to be cooking, from my own brain and heart."
Therefore, the next step was to begin developing recipes for magazines. She was already in the food industry by working in food styling for Bon Appetit magazine. She was also introduced to the job of food editor. It was an opportunity she was able to take on. "I didn't know the term "food editor" before that!" she jokes, "But they write and designs recipes and is able to spend 75% of their time in the kitchen. It was a way for me to return to the restaurant environment, and be in touch with food the bulk of the time." It was the right job. "I was thinking, 'This is the only thing that I ever need to do ever again and I was like, 'This is it'" she smiles. Molly was promoted to the senior associate food editor then progressed to the position of senior food editor. She made use of the time to sharpen her skills in recipe development over the following four years.
The transformation from foodie to food stylist, to food editor was complete however there was one more step in the journey. "It wasn't my plans to become an actor or to appear featured in videos," she continues. "The Bon Appetit YouTube channel was established when I joined and had an audience, but it was not popping in the manner that it is nowadays. After a few weeks, I was hired and was hired, one of the production staff asked, 'Do you wanna create a short video? and I said"Holy sh*t!. I don't know. I'm not an actress. I believed I was a behind-the-scenes person'. Then I realized that I was in love with it."
Molly confesses that she was worried her first appearance on camera during the kitchen test. "I was like, 'Can they see me shaking?'! Then the video came out, and I thought"Wow! This is so fun.' It wasn't my idea but the plan came from it was Bon Appetit's strategy and I was just going along with it." It was an organic transition into a food-related personality and the job of "figuring out who is to be Molly" was done.
Cook the Book: Becoming an author
When working for Bon Appetit one editor who was from Clarkson Potter, part of Penguin Random House publishing group called Molly and asked for meetings. "The ideal is to receive an email from an email address associated with the Penguin Random House email address," she remembers. "I suspected this was related to cookbooks. I attended the event and one thing led to the next and in a flash, I had a book deal."
"It's quite an exciting 'tension' when you're putting together a menu plan for your first cookbook," she continues "Because you're simultaneously thinking about dishes that represent the best expression of my identity and the world, as well as those that others will most likely make. What are the dishes that can be easily accessed? The question isn't 'How much will Molly bend in her book But it's about how can I create things which are authentic to me. They don't seem overwhelming or intimidating, and so just not suitable for everyday cooks. The meals I've created are ones that I'd make at home, but only whenever I'm feeling super-extra."
Molly describes: "75% of what I do is to be a brain an untrained cook. I eliminate everything I've ever learned about cooking and approach it as if it's just the only time in my life I've been in the kitchen. She has trained herself to know what it feels as a beginner cook as well as "to feel overwhelmed by the amount of food sitting on the counter in front of you". She confirms "My task as a designer is to make order for these people so that they can find it fun, and isn't a pain in the ass."
"My most dreadful fear is that my generation and the ones that are younger than me are going to have spent their whole time consuming food delivery apps like Caviar. And they'll wake up in the morning with the six-month-old baby on their lap and a child who's running around with a chore to complete and don't know how to put anything at the table -- not just pasta and tomato sauce -- and just think"F*ck it. I'm going to order from Caviar again!'. My goal in the world is to stop the possibility of this happening the best way I can."
I asked Molly if there are plans for a sequel novel. "I have to start making it up as early as three days from now!" she smiles. She tells us that she was offered an additional book contract a month ago with the same publisher. It is intended to act as a sequel and build on the foundational understanding taught in the initial book. Keep an eye out for.
Food that is fun, Caesar salad and Tuna the dog
One of the recipes that is most well-known found in Cook This book is Molly's Caesar salad. Self-proclaimed the 'Queen of Cae Sal', Molly smiles when she is asked how she is a fan of the dish. "I don't really have a one-sentence banger of response to that!" she says, "I simply think it's the best salad in the world.. When I visit an eatery and see caesar salad on the menu There's absolutely no chance that I won't order it. I've become infatuated with it throughout the years. I've spoken about it often, and have made the caesar salad often. And people know that now. It's just so amazing. it!"
Perhaps it's because Caesar salad matches Molly's mantra in that food has to be fun. It's easy, simple and full of flavourit's how cooking ought to be, according to Molly. Perhaps counterintuitively, this mindset is rooted in her experiences with the professional kitchen, rather than dining out and eating: "I've always found such satisfaction in the kitchen while working in restaurants. There was the excitement and highs, as well as the rush of standing at the front of the line, churning on the service, and then saying"F*ck, yeah that's what we did'.
Molly has seen the joy of cooking and the anxiety that it can cause: "I hate that I can't just wave a magic wand and make it fun for everyone. When I say cooking has to be fun that's because I'm always trying to be a good time- not just with making food. If I had asked my husband, 'Do you would like to bowl tonight?' he'd not say yes, while I'd say, "You're not going to wish to enjoy yourself!'" My mission on this planet is to make cooking more fun for other people so they are able to experience that pleasure also.
As if Molly's love for food wasn't apparent enough in her kitchen, her love for food has made it into her personal life. In her posts on Instagram and Instagram, she also has an animal companion named Tuna. If asked if tuna was an uninteresting choice as food that you love She says: "I do not find tuna to be boring! I think the water-packed cans we used to have growing up are dry and dull, however high-end oil-packed tunalike the ones you can find in Portugal is a pleasure. The flavor is different the place, don't you think? !"
Molly along with her spouse Ben were in Portugal when they 'conceived' of Tuna. Talking in the pool on their honeymoon, instead deciding to have a baby and deciding to have one of their own. "We had a huge amount of canned fish, and I think we just were thinking about tuna. We eat tuna about four times per every week!" she concludes, smiling.
It seems that, from Italy across the USA returning to Portugal Molly's love of healthy, simple, and delicious food has never been stronger.