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Why Molly Baz wishes she could make magic with her wand, and create a cooking experience that is fun for all
Molly Baz, recipe developer and the owner of mollybaz.com, dreams big. "When I was little I was aspired to become an astronaut," she says "Then I wanted to be a United Nations translator. After that, I thought I wanted to manage an art gallery in New York City." That's why, naturally, she went on to earn a master's study in art history at Skidmore College, the liberal arts school.
It was in a year abroad in Italy where she studied Renaissance art, that Molly's love for food began to overshadow her other passions: "I was living with an old lady called Graziella whom I called my'grandma' at homestay. She spoke no English and couldn't comprehend me when I asked thank you, but she was an amazing cook."
The main activity was to visit the local marketto find some ingredients, and cook Molly dinner. "She just lived for this," Molly continues. "I hadn't had a meal like that. I wasn't exposed to Italian food seasons and the reverence for its ingredients. However, I thought to myself, 'Oh, man, this is f*cking awesome !'." Molly informs me that cooking this way just was not something she was raised with, and she's certain it's the same for the majority of people out there. "My parents weren't seeking out top-quality ricotta or the finest tomatoes. It wasn't their thing."
Molly talks to me about "mind-bending 'whoa' moments" in Italy that led her to return back home with a desire to be working on food. In addition, the way she shopped to buy food differed to Molly's own experiences. Molly says: "Instead of going to the grocery store on Sunday to get her groceries for the week, she went to the market daily. It was due to the fact that 'you don't exactly know who is going to be there - and maybe the peaches look better than they did yesterday'. It was about respect."
Molly tells me that, in quintessential Italian style, Graziella's Tuscan meals were both simple as well as delicious and rustic. "Her tomato sauce has been imprinted in my memory," she continues. "It's extremely good, and especially during winter since it uses cherry tomatoes, which according to me, the only tomatoes in season which are worth your time in the off-season."
It's apparent by the way Molly discusses food that to her, cooking involves more than mixing flavors. It's all about looking at the various ingredients available, considering what looks good as well as creating a dish with your own mind. "That's the way my brain was working. I was not thinking about eating that kind of way. It's true that now it's all I think about," She smiles. Perhaps this is the reason Molly describes herself as a recipe developer rather than being a cook.
Recipes, restaurants and rolls along
To continue her professional journey in the world of food following her departure from Italy, Molly worked in establishments where she was taught how cook. It wasn't the final desired goal "I lost interest in places and decided that I didn't want to actually have an own restaurant. But I knew I wanted to cook and needed to determine the path that made sense for me."
Molly was drawn into the field of food styling because "the the next step in art history, including the art of composition and color was the art of making food appear appealing". Seeing as Molly's dad is an artist, she thought this could be the approach to deal in food with her talents, knowledge as well as the manner in which she was raised.
"It worked for a few days and I enjoyed it," she says, "But ultimately, I had this feeling that I was cooking and styling other people's food. The feeling is, "Cool, it looks great', and you're in some way responsible for the photo, however the food isn't yours. It's somebody who else's. I always wanted to cook, from my own brain and heart and soul."
So the next step was to get into creating recipes for magazines. The chef was already part of the food industry by working in food styling for Bon Appetit magazine. She was also introduced to the role as food editor. This was a position she took up. "I was a bit unsure of the definition of a food editor before that!" she jokes, "But they write and creates recipes and is able to spend 75% of their working time working in the kitchen. It allowed me to be back in a restaurant setting, and be in touch with food for the majority of the day." It was the right job. "I was thinking, 'This is the only thing I have to ever do again and I was like, 'This is it'" she smiles. Molly was promoted to an associate food editor, and then progressed to senior food editor and made use of the time to sharpen her skills in recipe development over the following four years.
The transition from food lover to food stylist, to food editor was completed However, there was one final step in the journey. "It wasn't my plans to become a personality and to be on video," she continues. "The Bon Appetit YouTube channel had already been established at the time I joined, and it was already gaining some followers, but it wasn't poppin' the way that is the case nowadays. After a few weeks, I got the job, one of the producers asked, 'Do you wanna make a video? Then I thought, 'Holy sh*t. I don't know. I'm not an actor. I thought I was just a Behind the Scenes Person'. And then I obviously f*cking enjoyed it."
Molly admits to being nervous during the very first time she appeared on camera on the test kitchen. "I thought, "Can you see my shaking?'! And then the video came out, and I thought"Wow! This is amazing. The video wasn't part of my intention but this was Bon Appetit's plans and they simply embraced it." It was an organic transition into a food-related personality and the job of "figuring out what exactly it is to be Molly" was completed.
Cook this Book How to become an author
While working at Bon Appetit an editor of Clarkson Potter, part of Penguin Random House publishing group called Molly and asked for meetings. "The ideal is to receive an email from a Penguin Random House email address," she remembers. "I knew this was cookbook-related. I took the meeting and one thing led to the next and suddenly, I had an agreement for a book."
"It's quite an exciting 'tension' when you're putting together a menu plan for your debut cookbook." she continues "Because you're simultaneously thinking about what dishes are the most authentic expression of my identity in the world but also those that others will most likely make. What dishes are going to be approachable? The question isn't 'How much is it to Molly be flexible within her work What's important is how can I create things that are true to me. Yet, they do not seem intimidating or daunting which makes them not suitable for everyday cooks. The meals I've created are ones that I'd make at home, but not in the case of being super extravagant."
Molly explains: "75% of what I do is trying to be a brain an amateur chef, and discard everything I know about cooking and approach it as if it's just the only time in my life I've gone to the kitchen. She has trained herself to understand what it's like to be a novice cook and "to feel overwhelmed by all the food items that are on the counter front of you". She says "My job as a recipe designer is to make order for them so that they can find entertaining, but not an annoyance in the ass."
"My most dreadful concern is that my generation, and generation that is younger than mine are going to have spent their whole time consuming [food delivery app] Caviar. And they'll wake up the next day with the six-month-old baby on their lap and a toddler running around and a job to do and not know how to put anything on the table -- not the tomato sauce pasta and then be like, 'F*ck it. I'm ordering food from Caviar again!'. The goal of my life is to eliminate that situation from happening the best way I can."
I ask Molly if there are plans for a sequel to the novel. "I am supposed to start writing it as of three days in the past!" she smiles. She says that she got a second book deal a few months ago from the same publisher, to act as a sequel to build upon the knowledge taught in the original book. Stay tuned.
Fun food, Caesar salad and Tuna the dog
Perhaps the most famous recipe from Cook this Book comes from Molly's Caesar salad. The self-professed 'Queen Of Cae Sal', Molly smiles when she is asked why she loves the dish. "I can't come up with a one-sentence banger of the answer!" she says, "I just think it is one of the most delicious salads on the planet. If I go out to the restaurant and I see caesar salad available, there's literally zero chance that I won't order it. I've fallen in love with this dish over time; I've discussed it often, and have made it a lot. And people know that now. I'm in love with it!"
Maybe it's just that Caesar salad matches Molly's mantra in that food must be enjoyable. It's easy, simple and full of flavour- that's what cooking should be according to Molly. Perhaps counterintuitively, this mindset is rooted in her experiences with culinary professionals, not from eating and enjoying food: "I've always found such happiness in the kitchen working at restaurants. There were highs as well as the excitement of getting on the line and banging off service while thinking, 'F*ck, yeah, we've done it'.
Molly is aware of the joy that cooking can bring and the anxiety that it can create: "I hate that I can't just wave an magic wand to make it fun for everyone. If I tell you that cooking needs been fun for me that's because I'm always trying to have a fun time -- not just with making food. If I asked my husband, "Do you would like to bowl this evening?' he'd not say yes, while I'd respond, "You don't wish to enjoy yourself!'" My work here on this planet is to help make cooking enjoyable for people around the world so they will be able to enjoy the joy also.
If Molly's passion for food wasn't apparent enough in her cooking, this passion has infused into her personal life. In her posts on Instagram, she has her own dog called Tuna. If asked if tuna was a boring choice to have as a favorite food however, she says that it is not: "I do not find tuna to be boring! The water-packed canned tuna cans that we ate when we were kids were dry and boring. However, high-quality oil-packed tunalike the ones you can find in Portugal, is such a pleasure. It just hits different over that place, right? !"
Molly and her husband Ben were in Portugal at the time they "conceived" of Tuna. While in the pool, on their honeymoon, rather than having a baby the couple decided to adopt one of their own. "We consumed a lot of canned fish, and I believe we thought of tuna. Today, we consume tuna probably four times a every week!" she concludes, laughing.
From Italy across the USA and back to Portugal Molly's love for simple, salty, happy food is more fervent than ever.