AMONG THE MANY PLEASURES I ENJOYED OVER THE COURSE OF WRITING THIS BOOK was the unconditional generosity of many colleagues and friends. First among them is Vince Calcagno, my partner at Zuni Café, who for several years shouldered a disproportionate burden of duties there with grace and agility. There would be neither cookbook nor Zuni without him. Likewise Carol Bever, Quang Nguyen, Cynthia Shea, and Rymee Trobaugh, who never said no to any request for help~more often they simply figured out what I needed and stepped in before I asked. Indeed, the same can be said of all of the cooks at Zuni. Their kindness and patience made the writing possible, and much of what I share in the pages that follow is distilled from their questions, and their solutions.
My gratitude to Bill Fujimoto, Trino Cruz, and the staff of Monterey Market in Berkeley, for their generosity and assistance, and for teaching me something about produce nearly every time I shopped there for over 20 years.
I am grateful to the many people who, usually with scant notice, agreed to critique some part of the text, answer a nagging question, or research a conundrum I had become obsessed with: Kate Arding, Sue Conley, and Peggy Smith of Cowgirl Creamery; Meredith Benke; Rolando Berramendi, Carolyn Buck, Brooke Thornton, Ed Valenzuela, and David Albee of Manicaretti; Will Borgeson of Bodega Marine Lab; Bob Bruno of De Choix Foods; Maria Colonna; Jim Ferguson; John Finger and Mike Watchorn of Hog Island Oyster Company; Michelle Fuerst; Jim Galle of Grimaud Farms; Cesare Gallo; Steve Giambalvo and Mike Cisneros of Cheeseworks West; Ihsan Gurdal of Formaggio Kitchen; Alison Hooper of Vermont Butter and Cheese; Paul Johnson and Tom Worthington of Monterey Fish Company; David Karp; Billy Marinelli of Marinelli Shellfish; Harold McGee; Edward Mills, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Dairy and Animal Science, Penn State University; Mark Palladini of Niman Ranch; Gianluigi Peduzzi of Rustichella d’Abruzzo; Gilbert Pilgram; Tim Ports of The Fresh Fish Company; Molly Stevens; Michael Thomey of Abco Laboratories; Michel Troisgros; Gary Bullis; Glenn Witte; Bob Wolke, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh; and Adrienne and Martin Zausner.
For recipe testing, I am indebted to Bob Chambers and his culinary staff, Donna Bianco, John Peelen, and Bernadette Pochet. Thanks to Martha Buser, Markus Dobler, and Cameron Finoki as well. Particular thanks to Deirdre Davis for tackling the roughest of the recipes, restructuring their unwieldy formats along the way.
Very special thanks to Jean Orlebeke, Andrea Gentl, Marty Hyers, Michael Pederson, and Steven Rothfeld for making this book lovely. Gerald Asher added heart with each wine choice. Judith Sutton carefully read every word of the original manuscript and gently fixed the many that were errant.
Warm thanks to Doe Coover, whom I nearly forget is my agent, since she cared for me and this book more like a mother. Thanks also to everyone at W. W. Norton, for their daring to embrace this book and then lavishing it with extraordinary attention; in particular I am indebted to Louise Brockett, Sue Carlson, Erik Johnson, Star Lawrence, Georgia Leibman, Jeannie Luciano, Andrew Marasia, Drake McFeely, Debra Morton Hoyt, Nancy Palmquist, Don Rifkin, Bill Rusin, and Susan Sanfrey. I will be forever grateful to my editor, Maria Guarnaschelli, who challenged and nurtured at all the right times, making the book better at every pass. She imagined, and championed, an ambitious book I’d never have had the vision to compose on my own. And to Kirk Russell I owe more than to anyone, for constantly reminding me to share what is true.
Heartfelt thanks to Kate and Olivia for their forbearance~taming my anxiety with patience, laughter, and love.