A Tribute to Peter Workman

[Photo via Workman.com]

Regina Schrambling has penned a lovely, loving tribute to Peter Workman who died this weekend at the age of 74. I was really surprised and saddened to hear of his death, especially since my most recent cookbook was very much the result of his extraordinary input. My original idea was for a book called “The Best Recipes of Your Life” where, based on my broccoli post, I would seek out the best mashed potatoes, the best milkshake, etc. When the proposal arrived at Artisan, my agent told me that Peter Workman enjoyed the proposal but wasn’t crazy about the concept. He came up with a different idea: what if I traveled around the country and cooked with great chefs and home cooks, transcribing everything that I learned into a cookbook? Secrets of the Best Chefs was born and throughout the process I would occasionally get input from Peter by way of my editor. All of it was so spot on, I still pinch myself when I think about how lucky I am that I got to do a cookbook under his tutelage. His loss is a great loss to cookbook lovers everywhere.