BSP 171: Peace, Love, and Pasta by Scott Conant

On this episode of Best Seller TV, Scott Conant, author
of Peace, Love, and Pasta: Simple and Elegant Recipes From a
Chef’s Own Kitchen sits down with host Taryn Winter Brill to
discuss his fourth book which is his most personal to date. He
wrote the book as a direct result of the question he is asked most
often by fans and people he encounters: “what do you cook at home?”
The book is meant to show a variety of delicious ingredients,
things his kids and wife love to eat, and also to show that not
everything is about caviar or truffles. It also shows the evolution
of his career. Conant recalls how the first twenty years of his
career weren’t the easiest. At the time, he did not get paid for
months on end, which gave him the opportunity to focus on his
craft. Despite all the complexities and challenges of the time,
those gave way to the simplicity he currently enjoys. He explains
that “There’s a new appreciation for simplicity the older you get.”
Simple relationships and the simplicity of life are the ultimate
luxury, Conant muses. Despite the difficulties faced, Conant was
not in the profession for the money. What was most important to him
was being able to cook the type of food he wanted. This book is a
balance of the ‘then’ as well as the ‘now’ – an evolution of sorts
of over three decades as a chef. Conant wanted to achieve that
balance – not just with the timeline, but with the types of
recipes, he included in the book. He did not want the recipes to be
fancy, but “craveable.” He adds, “It’s touching being part of
someone’s dinner table at home.” Conant tested all the recipes from
the book on his kids – especially his youngest daughter, who
he describes as an “incredibly picky” eater. Both his daughters, he
says, are tougher critics than the New York Times and he describes
their opinions of his food as “humbling.” In this episode, he
divulges one of his favorite recipes in the book, which happens to
be one of his classic dishes, and what his ‘grand slam’ recipe is.
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