//essays//
Fall 2019
Fall 2019
Latkes with Gruyère
A Profile of New York Times Food Editor Melissa Clark
Christa Bailey
Fluffy potato pancakes with a delicately crisp edge, married with the tanginess of French cheese—latkes and Gruyère are an unexpected pairing, but Melissa Clark considers everything. Food is everything to The New York Times food columnist and cookbook writer, Melissa Clark (Barnard ‘91). I was fortunate to interview Clark and learn about her journey through food. Melissa’s culinary exposure happened early, as she was born to parents who she deems “Julia Child disciples.” Her family spent summers in Southeastern France every year as she was growing up: a tradition which introduced French flavor to her cooking style. Her earliest food memories involve French patisseries such as eclairs and tartes au citron. However, alongside her French background stands her forte for Jewish cooking. As a lifelong Brooklynite, Melissa embraces the prominent Jewish food culture of New York. She continues to work with Jewish cuisine, having recently developed a recipe for Jewish bakery-style black-and-white cookies. French and Jewish influences appear abundantly upon a perusal of Melissa’s recipe box: brioche chestnut stuffing and rye tarte tatin exemplify French cuisine; while chocolate-caramel matzo toffee, matzo lasagna, and challah french toast exhibit Melissa’s creativity with Jewish fare.
Despite the disparity between these two cuisines, Melissa overlaps them triumphantly. Her soon-to-be published recipe for latkes with Gruyère cheese showcases a harmonious merging of the two worlds. Her repertoire, however, spans far beyond French and Jewish flavors. Her recipe for “linguine with clams, roasted tomatoes, and caramelized garlic” emanates the flavors of Southern Italy, while her “date-stuffed parathas with yogurt dip” are representative of the sweet tastes of India. She explained that influence beyond her French and Jewish foundations stems from the places she travels. During her years at Barnard, Melissa took a trip to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand that induced a pivotal moment in her food journey. “I wanted to learn to cook with those flavors,” she asserted. Asian fare became more prevalent in her life after that trip; she started eating East Asian food and dim sum regularly. Now, Asian concepts are sprinkled throughout her work in recipes such as “umami garlic noodles with mustard greens” and “thai red curry noodles with vegetables.”
Although she did not foresee a culinary career while studying at Barnard, food always lingered in her mind. Double majoring in English and Women’s Studies, she incorporated her interest for food into many of the subjects she was studying. When reading a novel, she would scrutinize the food that the characters were eating. Accordingly, she wrote one of her college theses on the food in Don Quixote. Through her academic career, Melissa met professors who shared her culinary fascination. Melissa explained that she continues to think of her Early Women’s History professor, Martha Howell, who had a particular interest in food production. The relationships Melissa built at Barnard continue to influence her cooking and writing today.
Additionally at Barnard, Melissa moved off campus early and improved her culinary skills by cooking often. She avoided the dining halls for all but her first year, and cooked almost every meal for herself. While still a student, she even started a small catering company, providing “dissertation wine and cheese” for professors who preferred her prices to those of the nearby deli, “Mama Joy’s.” This short-lived company provided Melissa with an outlet for creative exploration. She began experimenting with advanced flavors—notably “purple potatoes with smoked trout mousse.” While she developed many skills from managing this company, her business eventually shuttered when given the instruction to either expand immensely or remain miniscule. Melissa interacted with food independently while at Barnard, which was necessary given the lack of food-oriented classes at Columbia University. She advises students who are aspiring to culinary careers to initiate their own explorations, while constantly seeing the world with “food as a lens.”
Management of the catering company was a mere stepping stool to Melissa’s prosperous culinary career. She is now an author of 43 (soon to be 44) cookbooks, a food columnist for The New York Times, and recently the star of her own podcast, “Weeknight Kitchen”. She develops over 50 recipes every year for New York Times, testing each about two to six times. The pressure to meet recipe deadlines results in the desire to tweak every recipe beyond its publication date. However, “a deadline is a deadline and you just have to do it,” stated Melissa. In a 2016 “Barnard Women in Food” panel that Melissa hosted, she humorously proclaimed that “you have to write a lot of cookbooks to make money as a cookbook writer.” Melissa’s intuition and focus allow her to pump out dozens of mouthwatering recipes every year, while making it look easy.
While Melissa’s relationship with food changed multiple times, her culinary outlook on the world stood constant. From her patisserie-filled summers abroad, to her college catering business, and finally to her overwhelming success as an author and journalist, food has always been an integral part of Melissa’s life. Although she is rooted in Jewish and French cuisine, she creates recipes using concepts from across the world. Like the combination of latkes and Gruyère, she blends these flavors into unexpected harmony. Melissa mastered cooking and food writing with an independence that exemplifies “Bold, Beautiful, Barnard.”
Despite the disparity between these two cuisines, Melissa overlaps them triumphantly. Her soon-to-be published recipe for latkes with Gruyère cheese showcases a harmonious merging of the two worlds. Her repertoire, however, spans far beyond French and Jewish flavors. Her recipe for “linguine with clams, roasted tomatoes, and caramelized garlic” emanates the flavors of Southern Italy, while her “date-stuffed parathas with yogurt dip” are representative of the sweet tastes of India. She explained that influence beyond her French and Jewish foundations stems from the places she travels. During her years at Barnard, Melissa took a trip to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand that induced a pivotal moment in her food journey. “I wanted to learn to cook with those flavors,” she asserted. Asian fare became more prevalent in her life after that trip; she started eating East Asian food and dim sum regularly. Now, Asian concepts are sprinkled throughout her work in recipes such as “umami garlic noodles with mustard greens” and “thai red curry noodles with vegetables.”
Although she did not foresee a culinary career while studying at Barnard, food always lingered in her mind. Double majoring in English and Women’s Studies, she incorporated her interest for food into many of the subjects she was studying. When reading a novel, she would scrutinize the food that the characters were eating. Accordingly, she wrote one of her college theses on the food in Don Quixote. Through her academic career, Melissa met professors who shared her culinary fascination. Melissa explained that she continues to think of her Early Women’s History professor, Martha Howell, who had a particular interest in food production. The relationships Melissa built at Barnard continue to influence her cooking and writing today.
Additionally at Barnard, Melissa moved off campus early and improved her culinary skills by cooking often. She avoided the dining halls for all but her first year, and cooked almost every meal for herself. While still a student, she even started a small catering company, providing “dissertation wine and cheese” for professors who preferred her prices to those of the nearby deli, “Mama Joy’s.” This short-lived company provided Melissa with an outlet for creative exploration. She began experimenting with advanced flavors—notably “purple potatoes with smoked trout mousse.” While she developed many skills from managing this company, her business eventually shuttered when given the instruction to either expand immensely or remain miniscule. Melissa interacted with food independently while at Barnard, which was necessary given the lack of food-oriented classes at Columbia University. She advises students who are aspiring to culinary careers to initiate their own explorations, while constantly seeing the world with “food as a lens.”
Management of the catering company was a mere stepping stool to Melissa’s prosperous culinary career. She is now an author of 43 (soon to be 44) cookbooks, a food columnist for The New York Times, and recently the star of her own podcast, “Weeknight Kitchen”. She develops over 50 recipes every year for New York Times, testing each about two to six times. The pressure to meet recipe deadlines results in the desire to tweak every recipe beyond its publication date. However, “a deadline is a deadline and you just have to do it,” stated Melissa. In a 2016 “Barnard Women in Food” panel that Melissa hosted, she humorously proclaimed that “you have to write a lot of cookbooks to make money as a cookbook writer.” Melissa’s intuition and focus allow her to pump out dozens of mouthwatering recipes every year, while making it look easy.
While Melissa’s relationship with food changed multiple times, her culinary outlook on the world stood constant. From her patisserie-filled summers abroad, to her college catering business, and finally to her overwhelming success as an author and journalist, food has always been an integral part of Melissa’s life. Although she is rooted in Jewish and French cuisine, she creates recipes using concepts from across the world. Like the combination of latkes and Gruyère, she blends these flavors into unexpected harmony. Melissa mastered cooking and food writing with an independence that exemplifies “Bold, Beautiful, Barnard.”
//CHRISTA BAILEY is a first year at Barnard College. She can be reached at ceb2242@columbia.edu.
Photo courtesy of Columbia University Digital Archives
Photo courtesy of Columbia University Digital Archives