How Samin Nosrat Found the Women Featured in Salt Fat Acid Heat

Before Salt Fat Acid Heat became a popular Netflix food and travel docuseries, its host Samin Nosrat wrote a cookbook of the same name, with playful illustrations by Wendy MacNaughton.

Much of the show’s charm comes from Nosrat herself. Her love of food is obvious and intoxicating—she squeals with delight with each new taste—but that’s not the only essential ingredient. Nosrat spends each episode learning from local cooks, offering women who’ve spent their whole lives in the kitchen a chance to be regarded as cooking experts.

Jezebel sat down with Nosrat to learn more about how she and the show’s producers found the perfectly seasoned voices that give Salt Fat Acid Heat just the right flavor.