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What is it that Molly Baz wishes she could make magic with her wand, and make cooking fun for everyone
Molly Baz, recipe developer and the owner of mollybaz.com is a dreamer with big dreams. "When I was a child I always wanted to be an astronaut." she states "Then I wanted to be a United Nations translator. After this, I was thinking that I would like to operate an arts gallery within New York City." That's why, naturally, she was able to pursue a degree in art history from Skidmore College, the liberal arts institution.
It was in a period of time in Italy and studying Renaissance art, that Molly's love for food took over her other interests: "I was living with an old lady called Graziella, who was my homestay 'grandma'. She spoke no English and couldn't understand me when I said thank you. But she was an amazing cook."
The main hobby was to head to the local marketto find some ingredients, and cook Molly dinner. "She just lived for the food," Molly continues. "I have never eaten like that. I wasn't exposed to the seasonality of food and Italy's respect for its ingredients. But I was like"oh, my god it's amazing! !'." Molly says that cooking this way just was not something she was raised with and is certain that it's true to the vast majority of people who live in the world. "My parents didn't look for premium ricotta cheese and top tomatoes. It wasn't their thing."
Molly talks to me about "mind-bending 'whoa' moments" during her time in Italy which led her to come back home with a desire to be working on food. The way that Graziella shop for food was different to Molly's experience. Molly says: "Instead of going to the market on Sunday to get her groceries for the week, she went to the market daily. The reason was that you didn't exactly know who is going to be there - and perhaps the peaches are better today than they did yesterday'. The issue was respect."
Molly tells me that, typical of Italian style the Graziella's Tuscan food was simultaneously simple, rustic and delicious. "Her tomato sauce has been remembered in my head," she continues. "It's very good, particularly for winter, because it is made with cherry tomatoes which are I believe to be the only tomatoes in season which are worth your time out of season."
It's evident by how Molly discusses food that, for her, cooking involves more than combining flavours. It's all about investigating the available ingredients and evaluating what's appealing as well as creating a dish in your mind. "That's simply not the way my brain worked. It was just that I didn't consider eating that kind of way. Now, of course, that's what I'm thinking about." Molly smiles. This is perhaps why Molly calls herself the recipe creator rather than an executive chef.
Restaurants, recipes and rolling with it
In order to continue her career into the realm of food after she left Italy, Molly worked in establishments where she was taught how cook. However, it wasn't her ultimate goal "I lost interest in places and decided that I didn't really want to own an own restaurant. But I knew I wanted to learn how to cook, and I needed to figure out the career that made sense for me."
Molly entered the world of food styling due to the fact that "the next logical step from art history, which included the art of composition and color was the art of making food appear appealing". Since her father is a photographer, she felt it was the right approach to deal with food , based on her talents, knowledge, and the way she was brought up.
"It was a good experience for a time and I really enjoyed it." she continues, "But ultimately, I felt like I was just cooking and fashioning food items for others. The feeling is, "Cool, this looks good'. it's your thing to own the photograph, but it's not your food. It's someone who else's. I was hoping to cook using my own thoughts and heart."
So the next step was to start making the recipes that magazines would use. The chef was already part of the food industry by working in food styling for Bon Appetit magazine and was exposed to the role of food editor. It was an opportunity she was able to take on. "I did not know what a food editor was before that!" she jokes, "But it's someone who writes and creates recipes and spends 75% of their time in the kitchen. This was an opportunity for me to return to a restaurant setting while also being in contact with food for the majority of the day." The job was a definite fit. "I realized that this is the only thing that I have to ever do again in my life,'" she smiles. Molly then became a senior associate food editor and eventually was promoted to the position of senior food editor. She utilized the time to refine her recipes development abilities over the following four years.
The shift from food enthusiast to food stylist, to food editor was complete However, there was one final step on the way. "It wasn't my plans to become known as a celebrity and also to be in videos," she continues. "The Bon Appetit YouTube channel was set up before I joined it and was gaining an audience, but it was not popping in the manner that we know it today. A few weeks after I got the job and was hired, one of the production staff wanted to know if I would like to do a video?' Then I thought, 'Holy sh*t. I don't know. I'm no actress. I thought I was just a Behind the Scenes Person'. And then I obviously f*cking was in love with this."
Molly admits to being anxious the very first time she appeared photographed in the test kitchen. "I thought, "Can they see me shaking?'! Then the video came out and I thought, 'Wow, this is an absolute blast.' It wasn't my plan; it was Bon Appetit's plan and was just going along with it." The organic evolution to foodie personality the challenge of "figuring out exactly what it is for me to become Molly" was completed.
Cook this Book How to become an author
When working for the restaurant Bon Appetit, an editor who was from Clarkson Potter, part of Penguin Random House publishing group, reached out to Molly and requested an appointment. "The goal is to receive an email from an email address associated with the Penguin Random House email address," she remembers. "I realized this was a cookbook related. I took the meeting and then one thing lead to the next , and in a flash I was offered a book deal."
"It's an interesting 'tension' when you're putting together a menu plan for your debut cookbook." she says "Because you're simultaneously thinking about dishes that represent the most authentic expression of me around the globe, but also the dishes that other people tend to cook. What dishes will be accessible? This isn't about "How difficult will Molly be flexible in her book What's important is how can I create things which are authentic to me. They are not intimidating or overwhelming as well as uninspiring for the regular cooks. These are meals that I would make at home, but only when I'm being super extra."
Molly says: "75% of what I do is trying to be a brain an untrained cook. I take everything I've learned about cooking and approach it like it's only the second time that I've ever had to be in the kitchen. Molly has learned to know what it feels like to be a novice cook, and "to feel overwhelmed by all these groceries that are on the counter front of you". The woman says that "My task as a designer is to make order for people who are overwhelmed with a method that makes the process enjoyable, not a pain in the ass."
"My biggest worry is that the people in my generation as well as the ones that are younger than me will have lived their whole existence just grabbing food delivery apps like Caviar. And they'll wake up one day and have a six-month-old on their hip and a toddler who's running around with a chore to do and not know what to place on the table -- not the tomato sauce pasta -- and think"F*ck it. I'm going to order from Caviar again!'. The goal of my life is to prevent the possibility of this happening the best way I can."
I asked Molly whether she has plans for a sequel to the novel. "I am supposed to start making it up as early as three days from now!" she smiles. She explains that she received a second book deal a few months ago from the same publisher. The book will act as a sequel to build upon the information learned in the first book. Keep an eye out for.
Food that is fun, Caesar salad and Tuna the dog
Perhaps the most famous recipe in Cook this book is Molly's Caesar salad. Self-proclaimed the 'Queen of Cae Sal', Molly smiles whenever asked what she thinks about the salad. "I do not really have one sentence to give the answer!" she says, "I believe it's the best salad on the planet. When I visit an eatery and see caesar-based salad listed on the menu it's almost certain that I won't order it. I've been enthralled by this dish over time; I've talked about it often, and I make it a lot. People know this now. I just frickin' love it!"
Perhaps it's because Caesar salad conforms to Molly's ethos in that food must be fun. It's easy, simple and full of flavorit's how cooking ought to be, according to Molly. It's possible that this attitude comes from her experience with culinary professionals, not from eating food and having fun with it: "I've always found such joy in the kitchen when working in restaurants; there were the highs and the adrenaline of being at the front of the line, churning on the service, and then saying, 'F*ck, yeah, that's what we did'.
Molly is aware of the joy that cooking can bring and the stress it could cause: "I hate that I don't have the ability to wave the magic wand and ensure that everyone has fun. When I state that cooking ought to be fun is because I'm always trying to enjoy myself -but not just making food. If I were to ask my husband, "Does he wish to take a bowling trip tonight?' he would answer no, and I'd reply, 'You just never would you like to be bored!" My work here on this planet is to help make cooking enjoyable for others so that they will be able to enjoy the joy also.
If Molly's passion for food wasn't evident enough in her kitchen, her love for food has infused into her daily life. In her posts on Instagram, she has her own dog called Tuna. When asked if tuna is a boring choice to have as food that you love, she disagrees wholeheartedly: "I do not find tuna to be boring! I believe that the canned cans with water we used to have growing up are dry and dull, however high-end oil-packed tuna, such as what you see in Portugal is a joy. It just hits different over the place, don't you think? !"
Molly along with her spouse Ben were in Portugal at the time they "conceived" of Tuna. Talking in the pool on their honeymoon, rather than having a baby, they decided to get an ox-like puppy. "We were eating lots of fish that was tinned and it seems like we were thinking about tuna. Today, we consume tuna at least four times in a each week!" she concludes, laughing.
From Italy through the USA returning to Portugal, Molly's passion for easy, delicious, tasty food is stronger than ever.