“Recipes are just letters to strangers”

You've said you write recipes for the oven people actually have, not the one they want. What does that mean in practice?

That the recipe has to survive reality. A hot spot in the back left corner. A rack that only sits at two heights. If a loaf only works in a professional deck oven, I haven't written a recipe — I've written a brag.

Your column famously avoids trends. No sourdough discourse, no viral bakes.

Trends are fine — they get people into the kitchen. But a trend asks, “what does the internet want this month?” A recipe should ask, “what will this person still bake in ten years?” Those are different questions with different answers.

Tell me about the loaf that changed your mind about perfection.

A wild sourdough I made during a heatwave. Overproofed, flat as a discus, and the best crumb I'd ever tasted. I published it exactly as it happened — failure notes and all. It's still the most-baked recipe I've ever written.

Last question. What's for dinner tonight?

Bread, obviously. And whatever the market forgives me for buying too much of.