Melissa Clark is an American food writer, cookbook author, and New York Times columnist. She is the author of over 40 cookbooks and has received multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation and IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) for her work. Clark has been a regular guest on television series such as Today show, Rachael Ray, and Iron Chef America and on radio programs such as The Splendid Table on NPR and The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC.
Early life and education Clark is the daughter of Julian Clark and Rita Clark, both of whom were practicing psychiatrists.Rebecca Shapiro, Supper Club: New York Times food writer Melissa Clark '90BC, '94SOA invites everyone to the table, Columbia Magazine (summer 2017). She is a third-generation Brooklynite and grew up in the Ditmas Park neighborhood.Raquel Pelzel, In the Kitchen With Melissa Clark, Edible Brooklyn (Spring 2013), issue 29. Her parents were avid home cooks, influenced by Julia Child. As a child, Clark spent the month of August with her family each year in Provence, France. Clark is Jewish.A Very Unorthodox Passover, Tablet (April 18, 2019), Unorthodox podcast @ 34:00.
Clark attended Stuyvesant High School and then Barnard College, where she studied English and history and wrote a thesis on the role of food in Don Quixote. She graduated in 1990, and in 1994 earned an MFA from Columbia University,Lizzy Goodman, Elbowing for Scallops With Melissa Clark, Taste (April 24, 2017). where she took a food-writing class taught by Betty Fussell.
Career and works In her early career, Clark was a freelance writer for various publications, including the New York Times, and worked in "front of house" jobs at restaurants.Angelina Chapin, How I Get It Done: Melissa Clark, The Cut (October 16, 2017). In 2007, she began her weekly "A Good Appetite" column at The New York Times,Jennifer Barger, Face Time: Melissa Clark, Washington Post (December 2, 2011). She became a full-time staff writer at the Times in 2012, writing about 65 recipes each year for the newspaper. Clark has described herself as "an advocate for the home cook" and "the voice of the home cook" in interviews.
In 2015, Clark gained attention for a recipe for guacamole with green peas that she had reported on a few years earlier (the recipe was created as a collaboration between chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and chef de cuisine Ian Coogan for Vongerichten's restaurant ABC Cocina); the piece was re-tweeted by The New York Times and attracted viral feedback, including tweets from President Barack Obama and former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush, both of whom disapproved of her addition of peas to the traditional recipe ingredients.Melissa Clark, Green Pea Guacamole, New York Times.Erik Wemple, New York Times food editor: 'You don't expect to run into a pea in guacamole', Washington Post (July 1, 2015).Greg Morabito & Helen Rosner, Melissa Clark Knows What You Want to Cook for Dinner Tonight, Eater (March 14, 2017). Clark's most favored ingredient is anchovies, which she praises for their versatility.
Clark has written more than 40 cookbooks, including Braise: A Journey Through International Cuisine (2007), with Daniel Boulud;New Cookbooks You Might Actually Open, Grub Street (November 2, 2006). East of Paris with David Bouley; The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern with Claudia Fleming, the former pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern in New York;Melissa Clark, Ice Cream Is a Cold, Sweet Way to Show Off Corn, New York Times (July 31, 2013). and Cook This Now (2011), which focuses on seasonal cooking.Caroline Russock, Cook the Book: 'Cook this Now', Seasonal Eats (November 2011).Kirkus Review: Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make by Melissa Clark, Kirkus Reviews (September 18, 2011). Clark's cookbook Dinner: Changing the Game won an award in 2018 from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.Tim Carman, Food association gives top cookbook award to its CEO, prompting outrage — and a new policy, Washington Post (March 13, 2018). For The New Essentials of French Cooking, which was published in print and as a series of articles on NYT Cooking, Clark won the 2018 James Beard Foundation Journalism Award for innovative storytelling.
In 2019, Clark hosted a podcast series, Weeknight Kitchen with Melissa Clark, produced by The Splendid Table.
Personal life Clark has married three times. Her first marriage was in 1993 to Max Jonson. In 2007, she married her third husband, Daniel Gercke, with whom she has one child. The family lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
References
External links Official website Melissa Clark's articles and recipes in The New York Times