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Tanya Steel

Editor in Chief, Epicurious.com

Tanya Steel is a well-known food writer and Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning food Web site, Epicurious.com. Before joining Epicurious, Steel was the New York Editor of Bon Appetit magazine, where she wrote columns and features. Ms. Steel won the prestigious James Beard Foundation Journalism Award for Magazine Restaurant Review or Critique, 2003. She is a member of the American Society of Magazine Editors and a James Beard Restaurant Judge. Prior to Bon Appétit, she was an editor at Diversion, Food & Wine, and Mademoiselle magazines. In recent years, Steel created the charity program Wine. Dine. Donate. to combat hunger in conjunction with America's Second Harvest. Steel is the co-author of Real Food for Healthy Kids, which was published in late 2008.

How is the Internet changing the world of food?

Making food less abstract.

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Is food TV a positive development?

Bringing Lidia Bastianich’s expertise into the home.

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Why is it so hard to make it as a chef in New York?

One reason is an extremely sophisticated audience.

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What are your favorite restaurants?

Steel loves going out to the outer boroughs of New York to find real ethnic cuisine.

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How do you judge a restaurant?

It’s a complex calibration of many factors, says Steel.

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Who are today’s rising culinary stars?

David Chang, for one.

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What is the James Beard Foundation?

Steel explains what has become an important force in the culinary world.

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Reversing the Good-To-Be-Fat Paradigm

Steel hopes that girls will look to healthier role models.

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Would you ever be a vegan?

Steel is worried about the FDA announcement that they will allow cloned animals into the food system.

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Can organic food be mass produced?

Wal-Mart going organic is an encouraging sign, says Steel.

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The Locavore Movement

A new opportunity to eat healthy.

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What do you make of the celebrity chef phenomenon?

It’s gone on longer than Steel thought it would.

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Is the apprenticeship process still important?

It’s a way to learn an inheritance, says Steel.

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How do you pair wine with food?

Steel talks about the most unusual wine pairing she’s ever come up with.

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What makes a great chef?

Passion first.

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What is your favorite new kitchen gadget?

Steel describes an intriguing new cutting implement.

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Re: What five ingredients do you always have on hand?

Chicken is the new black dress.

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Why do young New Yorkers love to entertain at home?

The resurgence, Steel believes, is fueled by food TV.

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How do you get the timing right?

Timing can make or break a party, says Steel.

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What is the most common home-entertaining mistake?

Don’t try to over-impress, says Steel.

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Do men and women cook differently?

Yes, but the difference is fading.

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Entertaining: How do you make an impressive but foolproof dinner?

Steel recommends blending comfort and surprise.

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A Working Mom’s Recipes

Steel shares the secrets of feeding your family home-cooked food after a hard day’s work.

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Translating International Recipes

Problems of converting grams and ingredients for an American cook.

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How do you test a recipe?

Steel’s staff makes sure they will work in a wide variety of kitchens.

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Inside Epicurious.com

Where do the recipes come from?

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What makes a great recipe?

Indigenous ingredients.

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How do you teach someone to cook?

There’s no reason you can’t teach someone to cook an egg properly, says Steel.

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When did food spark your interest?

As a child, Steel was entranced by the quirkiness of Julia Child.

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Re: Who are you?

A Londoner who grew up in New York.

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