Apple News Today — Samin Nosrat Doesn’t Love Thanksgiving Food. Here’s What She Says Will Improve It.

Host: Shumita Basu
Guest: Samin Nosrat
Date: November 22, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, acclaimed chef, author, and Netflix host Samin Nosrat joins Shumita Basu to discuss her new cookbook, Good Things, her evolving philosophy on recipes and cooking, the rituals of gathering, and her unconventional approach to Thanksgiving. Samin addresses the stress many associate with holiday cooking, offering practical, joyous advice rooted in community, flexibility, and flavor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Samin’s Culinary Journey & the Heart of Good Things

• Post-Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat Life: Samin describes the whirlwind of fame after her best-selling book and Netflix series, revealing underlying loneliness and a battle with the pressure to achieve.
  • “Maybe achieving greatness would fix something that was really sad and lonely inside of me.” — Samin (01:45)
• Impact of Pandemic and Personal Loss: The passing of Samin's father forced her to reassess priorities, leading her to value presence, time, and meaningful connections over achievement.
  • “You can be happy later. You can have fun later. And I realized, like, there's no later guaranteed.” — Samin (02:44)
• The Core of Good Things: The new book is about sharing joy, highlighting recipes and rituals that spark delight rather than just checking culinary boxes.
  • “These are the things that make me feel like that. And some of them are really small... But I would say ... every recipe had to meet (the standard of) like, did you know about this yet?” — Samin (04:14)

Her Ambivalent Relationship with Recipes

• Recipes are a double-edged sword for Samin: She strives for clarity and precision, yet champions flexibility and intuition.
  • “The fundamental promise of a recipe is sort of flawed... So much of what you have to bring is your own attention and your own experience and your senses.” — Samin (05:01)
  • She feels a deep responsibility if recipes don’t work, balancing exactness with the desire for cooks to improvise and use what they have.

Innovation by Fusion: The Case of Kuku Kopita

• Samin discusses creating new dishes by blending influences—in one case, mixing Persian kuku sabzi and Greek spanakopita (07:23).
  • “Anything that I'm trying to figure out how to, like, create something new... if you zoom way out, people everywhere have their... bean dish, stew, or grilled thing... There are just only so many ways of doing things.” — Samin (07:31)
  • Her approach often springs from necessity (using up herbs) and curiosity about cross-cultural overlaps.

Rituals of Gathering & the Value of Community

• Samin reflects on her personal transformation from a “Tasmanian devil” host to someone who appreciates collaboration and shared responsibility, particularly through her years-long Monday night dinner ritual (09:48).
  • “One thing I've learned with this group of friends... is when you sit down at the table and pull your chair up and see what everyone’s made and brought together.” — Samin (10:01)
  • These rituals foster belonging, joy, and mutual care, especially over time.

Thanksgiving: A Perspective from the Outside

• As a child of immigrants, Samin didn’t grow up with American Thanksgiving traditions—giving her a unique, unromanticized perspective (14:30).
  • “I don’t have that deep nostalgia... I just want things that taste good on the table.” — Samin (14:43)
• Her Critique of the Thanksgiving Table:
  • She finds the food overall “bland, starchy, salty, fatty, and mushy”—lacking acid and textural contrast.
  • “It’s why everyone eats everything with so much cranberry sauce—it’s the only acidic thing on the whole table.” — Samin (16:20)

Solutions: Bringing Joy and Brightness to the Table

• Suggests simple, high-impact additions—condiments like fried sage salsa verde, crunchy breadcrumb toppings, or simply more acid and texture to cut through heaviness (16:23).

Finding (or Not) Your Signature Dish

• The pressure to have a “signature dish” is overrated; it should come from personal joy, not obligation.
  • “I think it has to be something you genuinely are moved to do rather than deciding to, like, dedicate yourself to making pie crust and becoming a pie champion, you know.” — Samin (18:35)
  • Samin suggests experimenting with things you naturally love, letting your signature evolve over time.

Advice for Less Stressful Gatherings

• Key tips:
  • Accept help—don’t do it all alone.
  • Assign contributions (dishes or otherwise), involve people in ways beyond cooking.
  • Simplify the menu; buy or streamline where you can.
  • Start prepping earlier than you think—work backwards, freeze dough, defrost and brine turkey days ahead.
    • “Preparation and thinking ahead is a way to reduce your own pain and stress.” — Samin (22:56)
• Organization is as important as culinary skill.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “I was able to find a way back to cooking and a way to find meaning in cooking as a way to spend this most precious currency, our time with the people that I care about.”
  — Samin (02:59)

• “I want more than anything to be your friend and your advocate and your teacher in the kitchen.”
  — Samin (05:35)

• “So much of what you have to bring is your own attention and your own experience and your senses.”
  — Samin (05:27)

• "Condiments are the gift.”
  — Samin (17:03)

• “Accepting help and sharing credit feels so good.”
  — Samin, reflecting on her Monday night dinners (10:59)

• "It's that we continue doing it is the most impactful and powerful part."
  — Samin, on the importance of ritual over perfection (13:51)

• "I long felt, like, excluded. And I have a complicated relationship to my own family, and so… it is such a family heavy time. So even just seeing that in the culture can make you feel really lonely.”
  — Samin, on the holidays (27:30)

Lightning Round Highlights (23:32–26:27)

• Underrated kitchen tool: The Y-shaped vegetable peeler—“ergonomically superior.” (23:40)
• Favorite cookbook: Coconut and Sambal by Lara Lee—“Everything I’ve made out of this book is so good.” (24:04)
• Best giftable item: Flour sack cotton dish towels—"so soft and so absorbent." (24:44)
• Dish when too tired: Quesadillas. (25:21)
• Dish for others: Lasagna—“I love, like, just all of the steps and all of the time it takes. I love thinking about people while I'm cooking.” (25:27)
• Favorite shortcut/appliance: Immersion blender and mini food processor. (25:40)
• Favorite new recipe from Good Things: Creamy lemon miso dressing, dairy-free, using aquafaba. (26:27)

Closing Thoughts: Samin’s Words on Navigating Holiday Stress

• Recognize that the holidays can be lonely or stressful.
• Take care of yourself, embrace friends as chosen family, and create your own traditions where needed.
• “For me it’s just the people I’m the most excited about and, yeah, whatever comes with that.” (28:48)

Summary Table of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | Key Content | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:25–02:59 | Samin’s journey post-fame & pandemic | Loneliness, loss, and the birth of Good Things | | 05:01–06:59 | Mixed feelings on recipes | The flaws of strict recipes and the push for intuition | | 07:23–09:09 | Creating kuku kopita | Culinary innovation by blending cultures | | 09:32–11:37 | Monday night dinners & gathering rituals | The shift toward community and acceptance | | 14:30–16:20 | Thanksgiving origins and critique | Lack of nostalgia, bland American fare | | 16:23–17:18 | Bringing life to Thanksgiving: acid, crunch, condiments | Simple, transformative meal enhancements | | 18:18–20:06 | Signature dish anxiety | Letting your specialty evolve naturally | | 20:33–22:56 | Practical stress-busting strategies for gatherings | Organization, delegation, advance prep | | 23:32–26:27 | Lightning Round | Favorite tools, cookbooks, and personal dishes | | 27:30–28:48 | Coping with holiday overwhelm | Creating your own joyful traditions |

Final Takeaway

Samin Nosrat advocates for embracing imperfection and human connection in the kitchen. Whether you love holiday traditions or feel like an outsider, her approach centers on joy, sharing, practical planning, and letting intuition lead. The recipe for a meaningful gathering, she reminds us, is less about culinary perfection and more about togetherness.

For more from Samin: Check out her new cookbook, Good Things. Find links in the show notes.