San Diego

San Diego Chef, Author of ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat' Selected Among TIME's Most Influential People

Nosrat aims to teach cooking in a simplified way, by breaking ingredients down into her four title categories that, when mastered, can transform a dish

A San Diego chef -- who is the creator of Netflix' docu-series "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" and author of the New York Times Bestselling book of the same name -- has been recognized by TIME Magazine as one of 2019's top influencers.

Samin Nosrat was selected for "TIME 100 Most Influential People" among the likes of environmentalist Jane Goodall, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, filmmaker Spike Lee and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. 

The Italian-style-trained chef was chosen for the annual list as a pioneer in her field for what award-winning chef Alice Waters called her "groundbreaking" understanding of the science and technique behind cooking. 

Nosrat's book, "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking" became the center of the national cooking spotlight when she received the James Beard Foundation award in 2018.  

The book aims to teach cooking in a simplified way, by breaking ingredients down into her four title categories that, when mastered, can transform a dish.

Waters wrote in her entry for TIME Magazine's list that Nosrat had the ability to teach anyone how to cook because of her deep understanding of what was behind it. 

Nosrat began training in the culinary arts in 2000, and simultaneously pursued a career in English -- both passions of hers that lent to the creation of Salt, Fat, Acid Heat, according to her website

Following the success of her book, which landed on the New York Times Bestseller list, Nosrat set her sights on the small screen; her same-titled Netflix documentary debuted on Netflix in October.

In each episode of the four-part series, Nosrat visits with home chefs in one of the top culinary destinations in the world. She seeks to understand what makes each dish delectable and expands on the idea that each dish comes down to four elements.

Through the docu-series, "Samin shows us what a beautiful experience it is to understand your ingredients—where they come from, who grew them, how alive they are, how people around the world transform them in delicious, diverse ways," Waters writes in her TIME piece. 

Nosrat is already working on her next cookbook. While no release date has been announced, the author says "What to Cook" aims to simplify the sometimes tedious cooking selection process. 

The full Time Magazine entry on Nosrat can be read here.

Nosrat is the sister of an assignment desk editor at NBC 7.

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